DMN

Default setting

Not a drug, music trio or business model, the DMN is your Default Mode Network. Think of it as a screensaver, the place your headspace naturally routes back to when there’s nothing major demanded of it. Like being on autopilot, when we’re not using our brain for anything taxing (also known as resting state), the DMN is a set of regions that are automatically activated.

When you’re focussed internally, rather than on the external world or on attention-demanding tasks, your DMN is in full swing with self-referential processing, interoception, autobiographical memory retrieval, imagining the future and understanding your social relationships. Providing a bubbling stream of self-directed thought and introspection, Broyd et al define the DMN as the posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, medial prefrontal and inferior parietal cortices, as below.

Background image, Peter Olexa / Unsplash. Graphic, Charlie Fooks.

Of course it’s not a one (wo)man show up there and the DMN works in tandem with other networks to create our bigger picture of the world. These are the Executive Control Network (working memory, reasoning, flexibility, problem solving, and planning), the Salience Network (communication, social behaviour and self-awareness), and the Frontal Mesocircuit Network (necessary for supporting consciousness and governing its quality) and others.

Self referential

Think of your DMN as that inner voice using you as its reference point with the external world. It is the internal dialogue you have with yourself about what you said that could have made Karen think X, or how annoying it is that you didn’t check your teeth before going on that date, and what groceries you’re going to buy later. It is our metacapacity to explore and understand the perspective, desires, beliefs, and intentions of others and ourselves (theory of mind), to remember the past (autobiographical memory) and to plan for the future.

Substance abuse

Q. Why pick a poison and choose to use and abuse it, when we know it’s bad for us? A. Suppressing the DMN. Enjoying pint number 3 and meeting that tipsy / silly feeling, we’re changing the chemistry in our brain so that we no longer have to think introspectively. With every drink or drag (whatever you’re doing, however you’re doing it), your inhibitions slip away because the bit of the brain that would normally process them becomes less active. Cognitively, that euphoric feeling of problem free-ness is quite literally all in your head.

Meditation & mindfulness

There are other ways to get out of your head. As we are more than capable of doing it manually, it’s not necessary to use substances to change our cognition. Plenty of research has found a direct link between meditation and DMN regulation. Meditation is the practise of directing your attention toward the non-judgmental awareness of internal and external physical sensations. They’re happening, they’re there, and we are simply a bystander. Unless you’re a Pro Meditation Master, it does allow some DMN activity, but rather than ruminating, it’s about accepting this mind wandering without identifying with, attaching to, or engaging in these thoughts. It’s all about being present and aware but free from emotional attachment and reactivity. The cognitive rewards of meditation are mind-boggling, proven to increase emotional regulation, memory, self-regulation and awareness and self-perception.

Rumination

Your body and mind don’t know any difference between fathomed thoughts and lived experiences. So the longer you linger on contemplating the worst case scenario, the more your body will react to it as if it’s actually happening. The internal experience going down is exactly what would be happening if you were living out the worst case scenario play by play, IRL. You are thinking your way into releasing the hormones that would be released if it was really happening.

So, next time that internal dialogue suggests your anti-dancing shoes for the Pity Party, do yourself a favour and don’t go. Tap into the reality of the situation or better still, consider the best possible outcome. Tune into what the best case scenario could look like and consider all the possibilities and alternatives. Crystal ball gazing with a sprinkling of thinking, what would the outcome look like if you chose to implement the options available to you? To do this quickly, check in with only the facts and remain objective. Want a leg-up? That’s what’s coaching’s for.