Default Mode Network and Rumination: Why the Brain Gets Stuck in Negative Thoughts
People in every culture in every corner of the world throughout recorded history have often described a similar experience: a mind that just won’t stop. Thoughts that circle without a resolution. A mental loop that seems to be productive, yet doesn’t garner results.
Researchers now understand that this experience is a pattern of brain activity rooted in specific neural networks. When that network gets stuck, your mental health can suffer. To break that cycle, it’s important to understand what’s happening when you can’t stop overthinking, why it matters, and what treatments research shows actually work.
To that end, this guide can help you better understand the default mode network rumination link by exploring the following:
- What your brain’s default mode network is
- How rumination and depression change your brain
- The relationship between the default mode network and anxiety
- How to stop rumination
What Is the Default Mode Network (and Why Does It Matter)?
You’ve no doubt experienced a moment when your mind drifts. You might:
- Replay a conversation you had earlier in the day.
- Imagine a scenario in the future playing out as you hope.
- Wonder what other people think of you.
That kind of mental wandering isn’t just you not paying attention to the task at hand. It has a neurological home in your brain’s default mode network (DMN). You might think of it as a “resting operating mode” for your brain.[1]
In the following sections, we explore the reasons behind why the brain overthinks, constantly connecting information we encounter to ourselves.
Brain Network Behind Self-Referential Thinking
The DMN is actually a vast network of brain regions connected to one another. It activates when you’re not focused on an external task, such as when you’re resting, or perhaps most commonly, daydreaming.[1]
Each area of the DMN handles different tasks. For example, the DMN and self-referential thinking are linked. Self-referential thinking is when we connect the information around us to ourselves, using our self-concept as a way to understand it.
For example, a specific area of the DMN attaches emotional meaning to events, using your personal experiences, self-concept, and memories as filters. Another part connects memories and monitors your inner world. Yet another area links memory, language, and higher-order thinking.[1][2]
But the various components of the DMN aren’t just idly talking with one another. Instead, the system supports some of the most important abilities that make you distinctly human, like:[1]
- Social reasoning.
- Empathy.
- Autobiographical memory.
It’s a critical component for developing a sense of self over time.
But the same inward focus that makes the DMN so important is also what makes it vulnerable to getting stuck. When it becomes overactive or doesn’t turn off when it should, the self-referential processing it’s designed for can drift into something much less useful: a loop of negative, repetitive thoughts that’s hard to escape.[3]
Intrusive Thoughts and the Brain Network: What Happens When the DMN Won’t Switch Off
When the DMN operates as it should, it works like a toggle switch:
- It turns on during periods of rest and reflection.
- It turns off when your attention is needed somewhere else.
This balance is partly influenced by something called the “salience network”, which is essentially a gatekeeper that detects what’s important enough to shift your brain’s focus.[1]
However, when the DMN doesn’t make the switch from on to off, your brain can get stuck in a self-focused state. In that case, your brain isn’t able to redirect its attention outward. For instance, if you have anxiety, it’s likely that your DMN dominates your brain’s power for longer periods of time than friends or family who don’t have anxiety.[4]
It’s easy to think that being stuck in internal thoughts is a “bad habit” or a “personal failure.” However, that simply isn’t the case. Why the brain overthinks sometimes is often because of differences in how it switches between its networks. When those switches aren’t flipped, it sets you up for the repetitive, self-focused thinking that characterizes rumination.[1][5]
Why Negative Thought Loops Form to Begin With
Stress is often the initial cause of rumination; it alters how your brain operates.[3] One way your brain changes is that it keeps pulling the past into the present. When that happens, everything is magnified emotionally.[6] So, for example, you might replay the argument you had with a friend over and over, each time with increased emotionality attached to it.
Then, in turn, the ruminative state makes pessimistic thinking more likely, and as a consequence, your ability to effectively problem-solve is reduced. What’s more, your ability to engage in meaningful activities or respond to your external environment is diminished.[7]
This type of overthinking can cause mental health issues, too. In fact, rumination is a predictor of the onset of depression and anxiety. In fact, when you ruminate a lot, it’s associated with an increased risk of having your first depressive episode. Not only that, but rumination and depression brain issues can continue even after treatment – although they’re typically more manageable.[7]
What Happens in the Brain During Rumination and Depression?
The rumination and depression brain link isn’t just repeating self-focused thoughts. You might replay negative experiences, ponder their causes, and wrestle with their consequences. When you’re in this mental loop, it might even feel like you’re being productive, working through a problem, or trying to figure out why something went wrong. But the truth is, this is not often the case. Unlike problem-solving, rumination circles back on itself without any resolution, and can become the cause of some of your most persistent mental health struggles.[6][8]
You might think of rumination as simply being in a “bad mood”. And while a bad mood can happen alongside rumination, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Rumination is rooted in an unhelpful pattern of brain activity that can have distinct consequences for your mental health.[6][8]
DMN Brain Function, Anxiety, and Overthinking
Rumination isn’t just associated with depression. The same pattern of DMN hyperactivity and failure to stop internal thought loops is also closely tied to anxiety. Understanding the DMN brain function anxiety connection begins with learning how things went wrong in the first place.[9]
DMN dysfunction has specific characteristics depending on the type of anxiety disorder you have. For example, in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), DMN dysfunction is the result of your brain’s inward-looking neural networks being overactive. The result is excessive worry with no off switch. Furthermore, your brain needs no outside trigger to start worrying or continue worrying.[10]
This same issue can appear if you haven’t yet been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, but it may do so on a spectrum. So, the more anxious you are, the harder it is for your brain to shift out of its inward-focused state.[4]
This is because if you ruminate and have high anxiety, your DMN is likely less flexible to stressors. So, the network activity in the DMN becomes much more rigid and less responsive. The result is the inflexible, repetitive thinking that comes with mental health challenges like anxiety and depression.[9] To work through this, your brain just needs a little help.
Intrusive Thoughts and the DMN Brain Function Anxiety and Depression Link
Closely tied to rumination are intrusive thoughts. You’ve probably experienced them: the unwanted image that flashes through your mind, the sudden thought about something embarrassing you did last week, the worry that comes up in an otherwise calm moment.
Unlike rumination, which is a sustained, deliberate loop, intrusive thoughts are much more sudden and feel involuntary. But they both occur because of problems in the same brain systems.[11]
Rumination and intrusive thoughts are hard enough to deal with individually, but together, they can feel impossible to cope with. Part of the reason is that intrusive thoughts make your brain work harder. Even during rest, certain regions of your brain exhibit elevated activity. In other words, alarm bells are going off, not because there’s a real threat, but because your brain is struggling to quiet its own internal noise.[12][11]
On top of that, the part of your brain that’s responsible for telling you when you need to shift your focus isn’t performing as it should. So it isn’t just that you’re thinking negative thoughts. You’re fighting a battle on two fronts and losing on both.[12][11]
These brain networks and depression and anxiety are closely linked. But this isn’t just a depression or anxiety issue; repetitive negative thinking patterns occur in many mental disorders, including ADHD and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).[9]
Mission Connection is here to help you or your loved one take the next steps towards an improved mental well-being.
How to Stop Rumination Thoughts
Getting stuck in a negative thought loop is exhausting. But knowing that rumination has neurological roots may actually be good news, because what your brain has learned, it can unlearn. Several approaches have shown success at interrupting the cycle, and you don’t necessarily have to be in a mental health crisis to benefit from them.
Mindfulness for Rumination
Mindfulness exercises are a great option for treating rumination. Mindfulness helps you stay in the present moment; that way, you can stop the overthinking loop and help your brain relearn what it’s like to get out of that state.[7]
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is especially helpful for this. It helps you recognize overthinking as a habit; as something you can observe outwardly rather than something you are required to engage with. This process is called “decentering.”
You learn to distance yourself from your thoughts, the way you might watch a butterfly floating in the air without chasing it. That change to recognizing your thoughts without being controlled by them is one of the reasons MBCT is so effective. It’s also why this type of therapy reduces the risk of depression relapse.[7]
Furthermore, mindfulness exercises can help reduce the severity of depressive symptoms and anxiety. It works to break the cognitive patterns anxiety disorders are often characterized by.
And the good news is that you don’t have to take part in structured therapy to reap the benefits of mindfulness. Studies show that even a walk in nature can help interrupt the cycle of overthinking.[13]
Therapy for Overthinking Adults
Therapy is one of the best ways to break the rumination cycle. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), in particular, has strong research support. It zeroes in on the unhelpful thought patterns and avoidance behaviors that keep rumination going. By helping you recognize your distorted thinking, you can begin to push back against the thought patterns that keep rumination going in the first place.[13]
Rumination-focused CBT (RBCBT) goes even further. It treats rumination as the main issue rather than as a secondary symptom. Research shows that this type of therapy is effective in reducing depressive symptoms. It’s also effective for preventing a depression relapse.[13]
Self-guided and online programs can also be effective for reducing overthinking. For example, even six-week programs help reduce rumination, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Clinician-guided versions of these programs are even more effective. Either way, this type of treatment matters for accessibility: it’s something you can do at home with support from a remote therapist.[13]
Find Evidence-Based Therapy for Ruminating Adults
If you experience mental loops that won’t quit and can’t stop replaying the past, Mission Connection can help. Our evidence-based outpatient programs treat rumination using approaches such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy, among others.
Flexible treatment options include in-person programs at our locations in California, Virginia, and Washington, virtual telehealth programs, or a hybrid option blending in-person and virtual care. Our licensed clinicians work in individual and group formats that address your specific needs in the here and now.
Mission Connection is in-network with most major insurance providers, helping keep treatment affordable and accessible.
Breaking the cycle of rumination is possible; you just need the right support. Get started online or call us for a free, no obligation conversation at 866-833-1822. Learn how we can provide the support you need.
Default Mode Network and Rumination FAQ
How does the brain get stuck in negative thinking?
The simple explanation is that rumination is driven by an imbalance between your brain’s self-referential regions that constrain the memory retrieval system. As such, it locks your brain’s attention on the past and on self-focused content.
At the same time, communication with brain regions that support present-oriented thinking and flexible attention is reduced, creating a doubling effect that makes the pattern even worse.[6] That’s why you might find yourself lying awake at 3 in the morning, still replaying a conversation from a week ago, unable to decide it’s over and move on.
Rumination also inhibits your brain’s conflict monitoring system, the structures responsible for detecting when your thoughts need to be redirected. Without this monitoring in place, the brain has much more difficulty signaling that it’s time to shift your focus.[12]
This helps explain why getting out of a rumination loop is so difficult: the system that’s supposed to interrupt this kind of behavior is itself not working properly.
Is rumination linked to OCD or ADHD?
Although rumination is most commonly linked with anxiety and depression, it is also very prevalent in OCD and ADHD – albeit in different ways. In OCD, rumination tends to focus on the need to complete rituals to ease anxieties. In contrast, in ADHD, it is characterized by hyperfocus on either perceived flaws, mistakes, or the inability to regulate emotions.