Table 1.

Characterizations of experiences when the default mode is active.

	Characterization	Source
1	“unconstrained verbally mediated thoughts”	Shulman et al., 1997, p. 648
2	“semantic knowledge retrieval, representation in awareness, and directed manipulation of represented knowledge for organization, problem-solving, and planning”	Binder et al., 1999, p. 80
3	“active retrieval of past experiences and planning of future experiences”	Andreasen et al., 1995, p. 1576
4	“retrieval and manipulation of past events, both personal and general, in an effort to solve problems and develop future plans”	Greicius et al., 2003, p. 257
5	“enhanced watchfulness toward the external environment (e.g., waiting for upcoming task-relevant stimuli or attending to scanner noise and incidental light)”	Gilbert et al., 2007, p. 43
6	“inner thought, self-reflective thinking in terms of planning for the future, or simulation of behavior… interrupted… into a… extrospective… state of mind… characterized… as increased attention and readiness,… sensorimotor planning for future routes of action in response to potential changes in the inner and outer environment”	Fransson, 2005, p. 26
7	“not focused on the external environment,… internally focused tasks including autobiographical memory retrieval, envisioning the future, and conceiving the perspectives of others”	Buckner et al., 2008, p. 1
8	“spontaneous, internally directed cognitive processes”	Andrews-Hanna et al., 2010, p. 322
9	“spontaneous mental contents which are unrelated to perception and coordinate[d]… so that they are maintained in the face of competing sensory information”	Smallwood et al., 2012, p. 67
10	“an ultimate state of inspection of the self”	Wicker et al., 2003, p. 229
11	“stable, unified perspective of the organism relative to its environment (a ‘self’)”	Gusnard and Raichle, 2001, p. 692