The Default Mode Network – A Key Brain Network in Dissociation and for Restoring the Sense of Self in Those with PTSD

This groundbreaking article by leading neuroscientist Ruth Lanius, PhD, has direct implications for the application of SE theory and clinical research.

Trauma affects our ability to be in contact with our sense of self through both cognitive (top-down) and somatic (bottom-up) processes. People with trauma report this clearly in phrases Lanius documents in her article such as:  ‘I do not know myself anymore,' ‘I will never be able to experience normal emotions again,' and ‘I feel dead inside.'

There is a growing body of research that supports the role of three large-scale brain systems in emotional regulation capacity and mental health. These are: the Default Mode Network (sense of self when quiet), Salience Network (system of importance and relevance), Cognitive/Executive Network (top-down integration of meaning and affect).

The Default Mode Network is active during self-referential, autobiographical processing of memories and creates what Winnicott called the ‘sense of going on being' when there is continuity in the network over time. For individuals with trauma, the resting state Default Mode Network shows significant reductions in system connectivity, indicating a disruption to the sense of self and feeling of continuity in time. This relates in many ways to the relationship between under-coupling and freeze states discussed in the SE theory.

The ability to understand how the Default Mode Network functions can have wide-ranging implications in how trauma is addressed. Under-coupling in this system may account for many of the ‘dissociative’ symptoms of trauma including cognitive fog and other symptoms from long-term COVID.

Read More: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/20008198.2020.1807703
Full Article: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fuZapwI7GIH3uevLUz5LHkRihtDHtkJS/view?usp=sharing
Lanius, R. A., Terpou, B. A., & McKinnon, M. C. (2020). The sense of self in the aftermath of trauma: lessons from the default mode network in posttraumatic stress disorder. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 11(1), 1807703.