Brain Networks Quiz
Modern neuroscience describes the brain less as a set of regions with jobs and more as a set of networks that switch between each other. This quiz highlights a region and asks which network it belongs to.
The three that matter most
The default mode network — medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate, angular gyrus — is active when you are not doing anything in particular: mind-wandering, remembering, imagining the future. It deactivates when a task demands attention.
The frontoparietal control network, sometimes called the central executive, is its opposite number, engaging for goal-directed work. The salience network, anchored in the anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate, decides which of the two should be running — it detects what matters and switches control accordingly.
Why networks show up clinically
Several psychiatric and neurological conditions are better described as network problems than regional ones. Persistent default mode activity that fails to switch off is associated with rumination in depression. Salience network dysfunction is implicated in the failure to distinguish internal from external signals.
Common questions
What is the default mode network?
A set of connected regions — chiefly the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and angular gyrus — that is most active during rest, mind-wandering, autobiographical memory and imagining the future, and that deactivates during attention-demanding tasks.
What does the salience network do?
It monitors incoming signals for what is important and switches the brain between the default mode network and the frontoparietal control network. It is anchored in the anterior insula and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex.