Neural origins of self-generated thought: Insights from intracranial electrical stimulation and recordings in humans

TL;DR

This paper reviews intracranial electrophysiology studies to identify the neural origins of self-generated thought, highlighting the medial temporal lobe's key role and suggesting a limited role for other default network regions.

Contribution

It synthesizes decades of iEEG research to pinpoint the medial temporal lobe as central to self-generated thought, contrasting with minimal involvement of other default network hubs.

Findings

Medial temporal lobe is a key site for thought-generation.

Other default network regions show limited involvement.

Combining neuroscientific methods enhances understanding of self-generated thought.

Abstract

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has begun to narrow down the neural correlates of self-generated forms of thought, with current evidence pointing toward central roles for the default, frontoparietal, and visual networks. Recent work has linked the arising of thoughts more specifically to default network activity, but the limited temporal resolution of fMRI has precluded more detailed conclusions about where in the brain self-created mental content is generated and how this is achieved. Here I argue that the unparalleled spatiotemporal resolution of intracranial electrophysiology (iEEG) in human epilepsy patients can begin to provide answers to questions about the specific neural origins of self-generated thought. I review the extensive body of literature from iEEG studies over the past few decades and show that many studies involving passive recording or direct electrical stimulation throughout the brain all point to the medial temporal lobe as a key site of thought-generation. At the same time, null effects from other brain regions suggest that various other default network hubs, such as the posterior cingulate cortex and inferior parietal lobule, might have only a marginal role (if any) in the self-generation or initiation of mental content like dreams, visual imagery, memories, and prospective simulations. Ultimately, combining a variety of neuroscientific methods that compensate for each other's weaknesses and complement each other's strengths may prove to be the most effective way to understand the brain's remarkable ability to decouple from the immediate environment and generate its own experiences.