Do you ever wonder where your energy goes? Your brain uses up more energy than your heart. And the lion’s share of the energy is usurped by the DMN: the Default Mode Network.

The Default Mode Network is what interconnects the signals from many parts of the brain, and is considered to be responsible for the “Illusion of self”.

The fact that it is always on, and busy sustaining the sense of a self, a “me”, all the time we are awake, explains why any additional self-focus causes our stress hormones to skyrocket, and uses up so much vital energy.

When your brain is not fully engaged and focussed on a specific task, or when not in awe (fully experiencing the moment), the DMN is creating stress, and sapping the organism of vital energy. In other words, whenever you entertain thoughts about the past, planning for the future, thinking about relationships or the “me”, your vital energy is being usurped.

How Does the Default Mode Network create the “Me”? 

The Default Mode brain Network coordinates and integrates diverse sense information and concepts, creating the experience (illusion) of a unified, singular self, even though the “me” is really just a multi-dimensional complex pieced together with disparate bits of information in different parts of the brain. 

The default mode network sits at the apex of the spinal cord, brainstem, and subcortical regions, integrating interoceptive signals with information about the extended social environment, forming what scientists call the “self axis”: the illusion that your “me” is somewhere inside your head, at the center of everything that is happening.  

The DMN determines who you think you are, as well as your opinion of others and society , and your relationships

For example, the DMN creates the “me’s” sense of having a body using spatial and scene recognition and simulation of the Parahippocampus and Retrosplenial cortex. The DMN integrates this with information from the Hippocampus and the Medial temporal subsystem to create autobiographical memory and future simulations or imagined futures. By connecting all this to the auditory, visual, and somatosensory information gathered by the Posterior inferior parietal lobe and Precuneus the DMN determines what you pay (unconsciously) pay attention to, and what you (unconsciously) ignore.  It reinforces involuntary awareness and arousal using the Posterior cingulate cortex in all tasks related to the perceived self and related to others. 

The Medial prefrontal cortex, involved in positive emotional information and internally valued reward, is also the part that makes decisions about self-processing such as personal information, autobiographical memories, future goals and events, and decision making regarding those personally very close such as family.  (Hmm, you see what goes into those decisions!)

What and how we think about others is a function of the Dorsal medial subsystem and in conjunction with the Temporoparietal junction which reflects on beliefs about others, and then determines how we infer the purpose of others’ actions. 

The DMN uses retrieval function of  the Lateral temporal cortex to inform the Anterior temporal pole so it can formulate the abstract conceptual social information.

It uses the Angular gyrus to connect perception, attention, spatial cognition, and action to help with the creation and recall of “episodic” memories.

The DMN “pieces together” the disparate parts and makes it seem that the “me” is one whole and “real” entity. 

The Ego Alchemy Process is way for you to be personally guided through this process. You can  begin your journey right away by accessing the Ego Alchemy Free Series of Guided Meditations. 

Our Noumedynamic Method Training is to help professionals to know how to help others free themselves from the illusion of self. 

The MICH Diploma Program is about learning to use the Noumedynamic Method to unearth the root causes of dis-ease and individualize treatment.