The contribution of default mode network areas to visual perception

Visual perception and accompanying sensory activity are strongly shaped by top-down influences. Although several sources of this influence have been thoroughly examined in the research literature, one prominent candidate, the default mode network (DMN), has received relatively little attention. Initially viewed as supporting internally directed, task-irrelevant mental processes, the DMN has recently been implicated in sensory processing, which points to its potential role in integrating external and internal information. Focusing primarily on human functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, we review findings on the involvement of the DMN in visual perception in the context of its fine-scale functional organization and its interactions with visual and memory systems, with the goal of clarifying how these properties enable the contribution of the DMN to perceptual experience.