The default mode network and the complex dynamics of ongoing experience: an attractor-state perspective

Ongoing experiences are a defining feature of the human condition, encompassing the thoughts, feelings, and sensations that underscore how we experience the world and our subjective sense of self from moment to moment. In this review, we show how the Default Mode Network’s structural and functional properties make it uniquely suited to supporting ongoing experiences as a system capable of abstraction, integration, and flexibility. We chart recent methodological advances that use dimensionality reduction techniques to map both neural and experiential states, demonstrating that they are most powerfully leveraged when applied together across both domains. Building on these insights, we propose an attractor-state framework to capture how stable and flexible mental states emerge from complex brain dynamics. Finally, we discuss the implications of our framework for psychopathology, offering a dynamic systems perspective on the interplay between brain function, ongoing experience, and mental health. • The DMN’s structure and function uniquely support ongoing experience. • DMN dynamics influence adaptive cognition and maladaptive mental health patterns. • Neural and experiential spaces clarify how brain activity shapes experience. • Attractor states offer a dynamic framework linking neural activity to experience. • Attractor dynamics model shifts between adaptive and maladaptive mental states.