A Default Mode of Brain Function
2001 · paper · Biomedicine
Uses PET measurements of brain oxygen extraction to define a baseline state of the resting human brain. It argues that consistent task-related decreases in certain areas suggest an organized default mode of brain function suspended during goal-directed behavior.
Checked: PDF from europepmc.org, fetched 4 Oct 2026. Page numbers are those of that PDF.
3 findings
Substance Table 2 footnote: "2.17 ± 0.41 ml/(min × 100 g) or 0.97 ± 0.17 µmol/(min × g)"; the SD 0.41 converts to 0.18 (as printed in Table 1: "2.94 ± 0.41 ... or 1.31 ± 0.18"), not 0.17.
- p. 4 Table 2 footnote
2.17 ± 0.41 ml/(min × 100 g) or 0.97 ± 0.17
- p. 4 Table 1 footnote
2.94 ± 0.41 ml/(min × 100 g) or 1.31 ± 0.18
Only the authors can say what is right here.
Judge's note: Page 4 image confirms both footnotes. The conversion factor implied by the means is about 2.24 (2.94/1.31 = 2.244; 2.17/0.97 = 2.237). Then 0.41/2.24 = 0.183, and even the lower rounding bound 0.405/2.24 = 0.181 does not round to 0.17. Table 1 converts the same 0.41 to 0.18. Either the 0.17 or the 0.41 (identical in both groups) is misprinted; only the authors can say which. The size of the discrepancy is small.
Second check: another model agreed
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Reference or label Table 1 and Table 2 footnotes give arterial oxygen content as "16.6 ± 0.16 ml/ml" and "17.0 ± 0.02 ml/ml"; the unit is inconsistent with the paper's own CBF, OEF and CMRO2 values, which fit ml per 100 ml.
- p. 4 Table 1 footnote
The mean arterial oxygen content for this group was 16.6 ± 0.16 ml/ml
- p. 4 Table 2 footnote
The mean arterial oxygen content for this group was 17.0 ± 0.02 ml/ml
- p. 4 Table 1 footnote
16.6 ± 0.16 ml/ml
- p. 4 Table 2 footnote
17.0 ± 0.02 ml/ml
Judge's note: Page 4 image shows "ml/ml" in both footnotes. Using the footnotes' own global values, CBF × OEF × content with 16.6 ml/ml gives about 305 ml/(min × 100 g) against the printed 2.94. Reading the content as per 100 ml (0.166 ml/ml) gives 3.05, close to 2.94. No other definition of the unit appears in the text. The values are plausible; the unit label is wrong.
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Wording Discussion: "Obvious decreases in the OEF from the brain mean ... are not apparent in our data when subjects rest quietly with their eyes closed or open", but OEF was measured only with eyes closed (groups I and II); group III, the only eyes-open condition, had qualitative CBF only.
- p. 5 Discussion, first paragraph
are not apparent in our data when subjects rest quietly with their eyes closed or open
- p. 4 Methods, Subjects (group III)
in whom qualitative CBF was measured while the subjects rested quietly but awake with eyes closed and again
- p. 5 Discussion, second paragraph
Further work remains, including actual measurements of OEF in these areas in the eyes open and closed states
- p. 4 Methods, Subjects (group III)
in whom qualitative CBF was measured
Only the authors can say what is right here.
Judge's note: Page 5 image confirms the sentence and, in the next paragraph, "Further work remains, including actual measurements of OEF in these areas in the eyes open and closed states". Methods (pages 3–4) give OEF for groups I and II with eyes closed and "qualitative CBF" for group III. The introduction says the results were "extrapolated" to passive fixation, so the authors may intend an inference from blood flow, but as written the sentence attributes an eyes-open OEF observation to "our data".
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13 minor (typos and the like; most checked by the judge only)
Reference or label Reference 34 is printed as "Laureys, S., Lemaire, C., Maquet, P., Phillips, C. & Franck, G. (1999) Lancet 67, 121–133." and is cited both for the vegetative state ("precuneus (34)") and for "carbon monoxide poisoning [i.e., acute hypoxia (34)]"; the journal/volume pairing looks wrong and the second citation may be mis-numbered.
- p. 7 Reference list, entry 34
Laureys, S., Lemaire, C., Maquet, P., Phillips, C. & Franck, G. (1999) Lancet 67, 121–133.
- p. 6 Discussion, right column
poisoning [i.e., acute hypoxia (34)]
- p. 6 Discussion, vulnerability paragraph
carbon monoxide poisoning [i.e., acute hypoxia (34)]
- p. 6 earlier in the Discussion
precuneus (34)
Only the authors can say what is right here.
Judge's note: Rests on outside knowledge: that the Lancet was publishing volumes in the 350s in 1999, so volume 67 cannot belong to it. Checked on the page 7 image and crop: entry 34 reads exactly as quoted. Checked in the page 6 text layer (not the image): ref. 34 is cited twice, once for restoration of metabolism on recovery from a vegetative state and once for carbon monoxide poisoning/acute hypoxia. The reference list gives no titles, so whether the second use is a wrong number cannot be settled from the files. The reviewers' 'shifted by one' theory is not supported: ref. 35 (DeVolder, Arch. Neurol. 1990) for diffuse brain ischemia and ref. 36 (Olney et al., J. Psychiatric Res. 1999) for animal models of schizophrenia both look apt as printed. Only the authors can say which journal/volume is right and whether a separate CO-poisoning reference was intended.
Second check: another model agreed
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Reference or label Reference 30 is printed as "Colby, C. L., Gattass, R., Olson, C. R. & Gross, C. G. (1988) J. Comp. Neurol. 238, 1257–1299."; the volume and page range appear not to match the 1988 article.
- p. 7 Reference 30
J. Comp. Neurol. 238, 1257–1299.
Only the authors can say what is right here.
Judge's note: Rests on outside knowledge: that Colby, Gattass, Olson & Gross (1988) appeared in J. Comp. Neurol. volume 269, pages 392–413, and that volume 238 is not a 1988 volume. The page 7 image and crop show the entry exactly as quoted. Nothing in the files gives the true volume or pages, so the authors need to confirm them.
Second check: another model agreed
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Wording Background says "An examination of the relationship between oxygen delivery to the brain and flowing blood regionally within the brain (Fig. 2)", but Fig. 2 maps blood flow against oxygen consumption.
- p. 1 Background, first paragraph
relationship between oxygen delivery to the brain and flowing blood regionally within the brain (Fig. 2)
- p. 2 Fig. 2 legend
Quantitative maps of blood flow (Upper) and oxygen consumption (Lower)
Judge's note: Checked in the text layer only (pages 1, 2 and 5); no image opened for this wording point. The Fig. 2 legend reads "Quantitative maps of blood flow (Upper) and oxygen consumption (Lower)", and the Discussion cites Fig. 2 for the "relationship between oxygen delivery and oxygen consumption". The Background sentence names delivery and flowing blood, which are the same side of the relationship, and omits consumption. Loose wording; the meaning is recoverable.
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Wording Results: "The correlation between the regional values of OEF obtained independently on the two groups was excellent (r = 0.89)"; a Pearson correlation of the 13 paired OEF ratios printed in Tables 1 and 2 is about 0.69.
- p. 5 Results, first paragraph
(r = 0.89)
- p. 4 Tables 1 and 2, OEF columns
0.707
Only the authors can say what is right here.
Judge's note: Values read from the page 4 image; sentence read on the page 5 image. I recomputed: means 0.9493 and 0.9615; in units of 0.001 squared, Sxy = 28211, Sxx = 17060, Syy = 99314, so r squared = 0.470 and r = 0.69, against 0.89 squared = 0.792. The gap is driven largely by row F (0.707) of Table 2. The paper does not state which regions or which correlation coefficient were used, so r = 0.89 may come from a different set (e.g. including the Table 3–4 areas). Query to authors on what the correlation was computed over.
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Typo Reference 49 ("Shulman, G. L., Fiez, J. A., Corbetta, M., Buckner, R. L., Miezin, F. M., Raichle, M. E. & Petersen, S. E. (1997) J. Cognit. Neurosci. 9, 648–663") is identical to reference 3; the Fig. 1 legend cites it as (49) while the text cites it as (3).
- p. 2 Fig. 1 legend
analyzed by Shulman and colleagues (49)
- p. 7 Reference list, entry 49
49. Shulman, G. L., Fiez, J. A., Corbetta, M., Buckner, R. L., Miezin, F. M., Raichle, M. E. & Petersen, S. E. (1997) J. Cognit. Neurosci. 9, 648–663.
- p. 7 Reference list, entry 3
3. Shulman, G. L., Fiez, J. A., Corbetta, M., Buckner, R. L., Miezin, F. M., Raichle, M. E. & Petersen, S. E. (1997) J. Cognit. Neurosci. 9, 648–663.
- p. 7 reference list 3 and 49
49. Shulman, G. L., Fiez, J. A., Corbetta, M., Buckner, R. L., Miezin, F. M.,
Judge's note: Read both entries on the page 7 image: authors, year, journal, volume and pages are identical. The Fig. 1 legend (page 2 text) cites "Shulman and colleagues (49)"; everywhere else the work is cited as (3). The citation still points to a real entry, so this is a redundant reference-list entry, not a wrong pointer.
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Typo Fig. 3 graphic labels the row "Hgb-O2" while the legend abbreviates the same quantity as "(HbO2)".
- p. 3 Fig. 3 graphic, row label
Hgb-O2
- p. 3 Fig. 3 legend
amount of oxygen attached to hemoglobin exiting the brain (HbO2)
Judge's note: Page 3 image: the row label in the graphic reads Hgb-O2 and the legend reads HbO2. Both are recognisable abbreviations for oxyhaemoglobin; this is a cosmetic inconsistency between figure and legend.
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Typo Results: "increase their BF when the eyes are opened" uses the undefined abbreviation "BF"; the paper otherwise uses "CBF" or "blood flow".
- p. 5 Results, last paragraph
increase their BF
- p. 5 Table 4, row Brodmann 19 OEF 1.104
.05
- p. 5
increase their BF when the eyes are opened
Judge's note: Page 5 image confirms "BF". The abbreviations footnote on page 1 defines CBF only and BF appears nowhere else. The meaning is clear; cosmetic. The ".05" point raised in one note is judged under C011.
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Typo Table 4, row Brodmann 19 (−23, −87, 28; OEF 1.104): P printed as ".05", without the leading zero used in every other P entry.
- p. 5 Table 4, row BA 19 (−23, −87, 28)
.05
Judge's note: Page 5 image shows ".05" with no leading zero and no comparison sign; all other P values in Tables 1–4 are "0.xx" or "<0.0001". Table 3 has a comparable non-significant entry (0.08), so "0.05" is the most likely reading, though a lost comparison sign cannot be excluded.
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Typo Misspelling: "midbrain periaquaductal gray region" (periaqueductal).
- p. 7 Discussion, left column, second paragraph
periaquaductal gray region
- p. 7 right column, anatomy paragraph
midbrain periaquaductal gray region
Judge's note: Page 7 image, left column, shows "periaquaductal". It is in the published page, not an extraction artefact.
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Typo Reference 28: "Vogt, B. A., Finch, D. M. & olson, C. R. (1992)" has the surname in lower case.
- p. 7 Reference list, entry 28
Vogt, B. A., Finch, D. M. & olson, C. R. (1992)
- p. 7 Reference 28
Vogt, B. A., Finch, D. M. & olson, C. R.
Judge's note: Page 7 image shows lower-case "olson" in ref. 28; ref. 30 prints "Olson, C. R." capitalised.
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Typo Reference 10: "Frackowiak, R. S. J., G. L., L., Jones, T. & Heather, J. D. (1980)" has a garbled second author (initials in the surname position, surname reduced to one letter).
- p. 7 Reference list, entry 10
Frackowiak, R. S. J., G. L., L., Jones, T. & Heather, J. D. (1980)
- p. 7 Reference 10
Frackowiak, R. S. J., G. L., L., Jones, T. & Heather, J. D.
- p. 7 Reference 16
Wienhard, K., M., D., L., E., Michel, C.
Judge's note: Page 7 image confirms "G. L., L." in ref. 10. The defect is evident from the page itself, since every other author follows the Surname, Initials pattern; the fix is to restore the surname. The same kind of garbling in ref. 16 is judged under C015.
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Typo Reference 16: "Wienhard, K., M., D., L., E., Michel, C., Bruckbauer, T., Pietrzyk, U. & Heiss, W. D. (1994)" has two authors reduced to single letters ("M., D." and "L., E.").
- p. 7 Reference list, entry 16
Wienhard, K., M., D., L., E., Michel, C.
Judge's note: Page 7 image confirms "Wienhard, K., M., D., L., E., Michel, C." in ref. 16. Two surnames are truncated to initials, unlike all other authors in the list. This is a separate reference from the one in C014 (ref. 10).
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Typo Reference 9 prints the author surname as "Weiskoff, R. M.", which is probably a misspelling of Weisskoff.
- p. 7 reference 9
Weiskoff, R. M.
Only the authors can say what is right here.
Judge's note: Rests on outside knowledge: that the co-author of Kwong et al. (1992) PNAS 89, 5675–5679 spells the surname 'Weisskoff'. The page 7 image and crop show 'Weiskoff, R. M.' as quoted. The name appears nowhere else in the paper, so the correct spelling cannot be checked from the files.
Second check: none (judge only)