title: Blink-related momentary activation of the default mode network while viewing videos.
abstract: It remains unknown why we generate spontaneous eyeblinks every few seconds, more often than necessary for ocular lubrication. Because eyeblinks tend to occur at implicit breakpoints while viewing videos, we hypothesized that eyeblinks are actively involved in the release of attention. We show that while viewing videos, cortical activity momentarily decreases in the dorsal attention network after blink onset but increases in the default-mode network implicated in internal processing. In contrast, physical blackouts of the video do not elicit such reciprocal changes in brain networks. The results suggest that eyeblinks are actively involved in the process of attentional disengagement during a cognitive behavior by momentarily activating the default-mode network while deactivating the dorsal attention network.
authors.affiliation: Dynamic Brain Network Laboratory, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. tamami_nakano@fbs.osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tamami
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morito
authors.forename: Seishi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Itoi
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kitazawa
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult