History
Hans Berger, the inventor of the electroencephalogram was the first to propose the idea that the brain is constantly busy. In a series of papers published in 1929 he showed that the electrical oscillations detected by his device do not cease even when the subject is at rest. However his ideas were not taken seriously and a general perception formed among neurologists that only when a focused activity is performed does the brain (or a part of the brain) become active.
Later, experiments by neurologist Marcus E. Raichle's lab at Washington University School of Medicine and other groups showed that the brain's energy consumption is increased by less than 5% of its baseline energy consumption while performing a focused mental task. These experiments showed that the brain is constantly active with a high level of activity even when the person is not engaged in focused mental work. Research thereafter focused on finding the regions responsible for this constant background activity level.
Raichle coined the term "default mode" in 2001 to describe resting state brain function; the concept rapidly became a central theme in neuroscience. The brain has other Low Frequency Resting State Networks (LFRSNs), such as visual and auditory networks.
Read more about this topic: Default Network
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