Why can a craving return even after someone has decided to stop using a substance? The answer goes far beyond willpower. Alongside stress and learned cues, brain networks can shape how we process thoughts, memories and urges. What is the link between the Default Mode Network and addiction? Let’s explore what research tells us.
Default mode network and addiction: why does it matter?
How does the Default Mode Network relate to addiction? Explore its role in craving and relapse and uncover the potential of neurofeedback for self-regulation.
Overview.
Key takeaways.
The Default Mode Network supports self-reflection, memory and mind-wandering. In addiction, altered connectivity within this network has been associated with craving, rumination and relapse vulnerability.
Addiction involves interactions between the DMN and other brain networks, alongside changes in reward processing, stress responses and behavioural control.
Relapse prevention involves more than avoiding external triggers: it also means developing ways to manage internal urges and respond differently to craving.
Neuromind is a neuromodulation approach designed to address the neurophysiological mechanisms that conventional treatments leave untouched.
01
What is the Default Mode Network?
The basics.
Have you ever replayed a conversation in your head, imagined how tomorrow might unfold or found yourself lost in thought halfway through a walk? During these moments, your brain doesn’t switch off, it processes information internally.
The Default Mode Network is a collection of interconnected brain regions, including the medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex, that supports this kind of mental activity. It contributes to autobiographical memory, self-reflection and the ability to imagine future situations [1].
The DMN works alongside other brain networks to help us move between internal reflection and attention to the world around us. Far from being useless daydreaming, these processes help us learn from experience, understand ourselves and anticipate what lies ahead. The DMN is an essential part of how we make sense of our lives.
02
What happens to the Default Mode Network in addiction?
DMN dysfunction and substance use disorders
Addiction can change how the brain processes rewards, responds to stress and manages behaviour. Research suggests that DMN dysfunction plays a part in this complex picture. A review found altered patterns of DMN functional connectivity across different substance use disorders [2], including:
lower resting-state connectivity in anterior DMN regions;
higher resting-state connectivity in posterior DMN regions.
Why does this matter? Some DMN regions contribute to evaluating personal experiences and regulating emotions, while others help direct attention towards internal thoughts and memories. Changes in how these regions communicate may influence the way people process substance-related experiences.
The role of executive control and salience networks
Beyond the DMN, two other brain systems help explain what happens when an urge takes hold:
the salience network identifies stimuli and experiences that deserve attention;
the executive control network supports planning, decision-making and goal-directed behaviour [3].
Working together, these networks allow the brain to prioritise relevant information, shift attention and regulate responses.
In addiction, changes across reward, stress and prefrontal control circuits can make immediate rewards more compelling while making it harder to act in line with longer-term intentions [4].
When someone who has decided to stop drinking encounters an unexpected trigger after a difficult day, the urge to drink may feel immediate and powerful, while the longer-term reasons for avoiding alcohol become harder to keep in focus.
03
How does the Default Mode Network influence craving and relapse?
From self-referential thoughts to craving
A memory of a previous high, the anticipation of relief or the mental replay of a familiar ritual can bring substance use to the forefront of attention. When these thoughts recur, they may reinforce the expectation that using a substance will resolve discomfort or provide a reward.
Because the DMN helps construct our internal narrative, altered connectivity within this network may contribute to persistent substance-related thinking and rumination [2].
However, craving can arise without being acted upon. The difficulty is that, when attention repeatedly returns to the urge, stepping back and considering other choices may become harder.
This is one reason why recovery strategies often focus on recognising thoughts and feelings without automatically responding to them. Mindfulness research has also linked meditation experience with differences in DMN activity and connectivity, suggesting a potential route for investigating how attention to internal experiences can change [5].
Substance-related cues, stress and internally driven urges
Sometimes the trigger is obvious: a familiar bar, a particular person, the smell of a cigarette or an image associated with previous substance use. At other times, it feels less tangible: loneliness, anxiety, frustration or the need to escape an uncomfortable feeling.
A systematic review and meta-analysis covering 237 studies involving 51,788 participants found that drug-cue reactivity and craving were associated with subsequent drug use and relapse [6].
Stress can further increase vulnerability to relapse. Research has identified biological stress responses as potential factors associated with relapse risk, underlining the importance of addressing emotional and physiological regulation alongside behavioural patterns [7].
Relapse prevention therefore means more than avoiding temptation. It also involves learning to recognise internal warning signs, tolerate uncomfortable states and regain the flexibility to choose a different response.
04
Rewiring relapse: how Neuromind targets addiction-related brain states
A closed-loop system.
What if addiction treatment could go beyond talking about craving and help people practise regulating the brain states associated with it? This is the idea behind Neuromind’s approach to addiction treatment.
Our platform combines wearable electroencephalography (EEG), artificial intelligence and immersive virtual reality (VR) in a closed-loop system designed to support self-regulation. It brings together three complementary components:
real-time neurofeedback: EEG-derived biomarkers of arousal and attention guide users towards more regulatory, task-oriented brain states;
mindfulness-based training: immersive guided sessions support awareness of internal experiences without automatically reacting to them;
adaptive cue exposure: the system monitors neural responses to substance-related cues and adjusts their presentation in real time, with the aim of supporting extinction learning.
By adapting the virtual environment to signals measured during training, Neuromind aims to make self-regulation exercises more responsive to the user’s changing state. Neuromind is designed to complement established treatments, including psychotherapy and pharmacological support, rather than replace them.
Work with us.
Are you exploring addiction through neurofeedback, DMN-targeted interventions or digital therapeutics? We would welcome the conversation.
Addiction has been associated with altered DMN activity and connectivity. Researchers are increasingly interested in how this network interacts with systems involved in attention and executive control.
References
[1] Raichle ME, Snyder AZ. A default mode of brain function: a brief history of an evolving idea. Neuroimage. 2007 Oct 1;37(4):1083-90; discussion 1097-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.02.041. Epub 2007 Mar 6. PMID: 17719799.
[2] Zhang R, Volkow ND. Brain default-mode network dysfunction in addiction. Neuroimage. 2019 Oct 15;200:313-331. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.06.036. Epub 2019 Jun 21. PMID: 31229660.
[3] Seeley WW, Menon V, Schatzberg AF, Keller J, Glover GH, Kenna H, Reiss AL, Greicius MD. Dissociable intrinsic connectivity networks for salience processing and executive control. J Neurosci. 2007 Feb 28;27(9):2349-56. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5587-06.2007. PMID: 17329432; PMCID: PMC2680293.
[4] Koob GF, Volkow ND. Neurobiology of addiction: a neurocircuitry analysis. Lancet Psychiatry. 2016 Aug;3(8):760-773. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(16)00104-8. PMID: 27475769; PMCID: PMC6135092.
[5] Brewer JA, Worhunsky PD, Gray JR, Tang YY, Weber J, Kober H. Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Dec 13;108(50):20254-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1112029108. Epub 2011 Nov 23. PMID: 22114193; PMCID: PMC3250176.
[6] Vafaie N, Kober H. Association of Drug Cues and Craving With Drug Use and Relapse: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022 Jul 1;79(7):641-650. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.1240. PMID: 35648415; PMCID: PMC9161117.
[7] Sinha R. New findings on biological factors predicting addiction relapse vulnerability. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2011 Oct;13(5):398-405. doi: 10.1007/s11920-011-0224-0. PMID: 21792580; PMCID: PMC3674771.
Contact. If you would like further information or a demonstration of our solution, please contact us using the following link