What is the Default Mode Network – and Why You Need to Know About It

When you imagine a brain at rest, you might picture it switching off – like a computer in sleep mode. For much of the early 20th century, scientists thought the same: that the brain was mostly quiet when it wasn’t actively solving a problem.

But in 1924, German psychiatrist Hans Berger discovered brain waves using one of the first EEG machines. He found that the brain was still buzzing with electrical activity even when people were just sitting with their eyes closed. Fast forward to the early 2000s, and neuroscientist Marcus Raichle and his team coined the term Default Mode Network (DMN) to describe a set of brain areas that actually light up when we are resting, daydreaming, or “on autopilot.” In other words, when we’re not focused on the outside world, our brains are far from idle – they are busy reflecting, imagining, remembering, and planning.

Why the Default Mode Network Matters for Mental Health

This background brain activity is incredibly useful for creativity, problem-solving, and making sense of our lives. But there’s a catch: when we’re in the DMN, we are more likely to dwell on worries, regrets, and what-ifs. Our brains are hardwired with a negativity bias – a survival instinct to scan for threats. That was very helpful when we lived in tribes and needed to notice every rustle in the bushes. Today, it can lead us into overthinking, rumination, and self-criticism.

Emotions vs Feelings: A Key Distinction

Understanding emotions can help us make sense of what happens in the DMN. Psychologists often describe six primary emotions: anger, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise, and joy. These are hardwired into us and arise automatically in response to events.

But when we start thinking about those emotions – telling ourselves stories about why we feel them – we create secondary feelings. For example, fear might turn into worry, sadness might spiral into shame or guilt, anger might grow into resentment. It’s this layering of thoughts and feelings that fuels depression and anxiety.

How Can Mindfulness Hellop?

This is where mindfulness comes in. Teachers such as Jon Kabat-Zinn have shown that mindfulness – learning to bring awareness to the present moment, without judgment – helps us notice when we are lost in thought, caught in the DMN’s loops.

In counselling, I often teach clients to notice their breath, the sensations in their body, and the raw emotion underneath their thoughts. Over time, they begin to see patterns: “Ah, here comes my worry story,” or “I can feel sadness in my chest.” Recognising these stories as just mental events – not facts – helps us step back, process emotions, and respond more calmly.

A Real-Life Example

One client returned home after living abroad and suddenly found himself spending long hours alone. He heard a podcast about the importance of social connection, and soon, whenever he had quiet time, his thoughts became gloomy: I don’t see enough friends. Something must be wrong with me. He began to feel lonely and heavy.

Through mindfulness practice, he began to notice a single line of audio in his mind - 'you're lonely - you don't know anyone - you haven't got any friends' frequently throughout the day. He realised that this was not true, just a repetitive pattern of thinking - a rumination. He asked himself where it came from, and noticed a tightening in his jaw whenever it arose. It was fear. A fear unconsciously created by the message of the podcast. The story about being lonely was just that – a story. Once he saw it clearly, he was able to let it go. From that place of calm, he made plans to meet friends and join local clubs, but now with a sense of excitement, not fear.

Bringing East and West Together

As a person-centred integrative counsellor in North Dorset, working with clients of all ages, I see how powerful it can be to bring together the science of the brain (Western psychology) and the wisdom of mindfulness (Eastern tradition). The Default Mode Network isn’t “bad” – it’s part of being human – but if we don’t learn to work

with it, we can get stuck in its stories.

Mindfulness gives us a choice. By returning to the present moment again and again, we find space to let go of unhelpful thinking, process our primary emotions, and reconnect with joy, curiosity, and compassion.

(Counselling with Rich – East meets West, Counsellor in North Dorset, Person-Centred Integrative, Specialising in men's issues)