Verbal recollection engages the default mode network more strongly than visual recollection: A meta-analysis and semantic scaffolding account

Description: Functional neuroimaging studies consistently show that episodic recollection engages the default mode network (DMN), yet it remains unclear whether this engagement varies with the representational content of retrieved information. The present meta-analysis examined whether verbal and visual recollection differentially recruit the DMN. Twenty-four verbal and 19 visual studies were included; recollection was defined using subjective measures, and network correspondence was assessed using the Yeo 17-network parcellation. Both forms of recollection engaged the DMN; however, verbal recollection showed stronger and more extensive recruitment across all three DMN subnetworks. Direct contrasts further revealed consistent preferential associations for verbal relative to visual recollection across all DMN subdivisions. These findings suggest that DMN engagement, although domain-general, is systematically modulated by representational content, potentially reflecting differences in conceptual integration (semantic scaffolding) during retrieval. More broadly, representational content may constitute an important organizing dimension of DMN function in episodic memory and help account for variability across prior neuroimaging findings, with potential relevance for other domains supported by the DMN.