Review
Rest-stimulus interaction in the brain: a review

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Studies in animals and humans have demonstrated intrinsic activity in the brain during the resting state. The concept of the default-mode network (DMN) – a set of brain regions in which resting-state activity (RSA) activity is reduced in response to external stimuli – recently raised much controversy concerning the psychological correlates of RSA. However, it remains unclear how RSA interacts with stimulus-induced activity. Here we review studies in humans and animals that address how RSA interacts with stimulus-induced activity; we also discuss, conversely, how stimulus-induced activity can modulate RSA. Psychologically, the rest–stimulus interaction is relevant to predicting subsequent behavioral and mental states. We conclude that a better understanding of the rest–stimulus interaction is likely to be crucial to the elucidation of the brain's contribution to mental states.

Section snippets

RSA and stimulus-induced activity

The concept of the DMN was initially introduced to describe a set of regions that show a consistent pattern of deactivation during stimulus- or task-induced activity 1, 2, 3, 4. The regions of the DMN as initially described include anterior and posterior cortical midline regions such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), different parts (sub-, pre-, and supragenual) of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)

How is stimulus-induced activity predicted by RSA in task-negative regions?

High RSA in human imaging studies has been observed especially in the task-negative regions of the DMN. This raises the question how the high RSA in these regions impacts upon stimulus-induced activity and the respectively associated behavioral and mental states. We hence discuss several studies that investigate the various facets of such rest–stimulus interaction.

Using combined magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and fMRI [29], a recent study investigated the level of γ-aminobutyric acid

How is RSA in task-negative regions modulated by stimulus-induced activity?

We have so far investigated the impact of RSA on subsequent stimulus-induced activity. However, the interaction could also function in reverse, with stimulus-induced activity modulating RSA. We start by describing studies addressing the impact of stimulus-induced activity on RSA in task-negative regions.

A study by Pyka et al. [54] investigated DMN activation using an ‘n-back’ working-memory task (where the subject is presented with a sequence of stimuli and determines if the current stimulus

Conclusion

We here reviewed the various forms of how brain RSA can interact with and modulate stimulus-induced activity. The overview clearly suggests that there are multiple types of interactions between RSA and stimulus-based activity, and these interactions can be detected in different regions across the whole brain, and including both task-positive and task-negative regions. Most importantly, rest–stimulus interactions appear to occur in both directions, from rest to stimulus and from stimulus to rest.

Acknowledgments

We herewith acknowledge the constructive comments by Niall Duncan and Dave Hayes as well as generous Canada Research Chair and EJLB Foundation–Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)–Michael Smith Foundation support to G.N.

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