Mindful science: TPN vs. DMN

“Look past your thoughts, so you may drink the pure nectar of This Moment.”

- Rumi

Modern technology allows scientists to map the brain in an effort to help us understand how and why we think and act the way we do. Within the past twenty years neurologists have identified a Task Positive Network (TPN: active and aware) and a Default Mode Network (DMN: restful and unaware) that our brain switches between based on our attention or lack thereof. When we are actively engaged in our environment the TPN area of our brain lights up. When we are thinking…