Delayed recall may reflect memory consolidation in the elderly, which would explain its correlation with interregional connections within the DMN in the present study. On the one hand, there is gradual reorganization within long-term memory storage as time passes after learning. As a result, DR comprises memory consolidation. Our findings parallel the idea that IR trials may measure attention and working memory to a greater degree than DR trials, which predominantly tap retention, consolidation, and delayed retrieval effects (Shankle et al., 2005; Rabin et al., 2009). On the other hand, cortico-cortical pathways and hippocampal-neocortical interactions are generally considered as the neural correlates of consolidation, whereby consolidation relies on connections of brain regions. Meanwhile, patterns of neural activity when performing a task can be reproduced in resting state (Foster and Wilson, 2006; Albert et al., 2009), which is devoted to the reprocessing of past experiences. Miall and Robertson (2006) proposed that the DMN may support the off-line processing and consolidation of memories. Taken together, our findings that the DMN FC positively predicted DR performance provides further evidence for the role of the DMN in memory consolidation.
