When people are engaged in spontaneous thinking, such as mind-wandering, daydreaming, and imagining, the default mode network gets activated. When people focus on their thought processes and evaluate the ideas, the executive control network gets activated. When the executive control network is activated, the default network is deactivated. This is how it usually works for most people. In the case of creative people, activation of the salience network makes all the difference. The salience network operates as a switching mechanism between the default and executive networks.
