Decision and response monitoring during working memory are sequentially represented in the human insula
Anaïs Llorens,
Ludovic Bellier,
Alejandro O. Blenkmann,
Jugoslav Ivanovic,
Pål G. Larsson,
Jack J. Lin,
Tor Endestad,
Anne-Kristin Solbakk,
Robert T. Knight
Affiliations
Anaïs Llorens
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA; Université de Franche-Comté, SUPMICROTECH, CNRS, Institut FEMTO-ST, 25000 Besançon, France; Université Paris Cité, Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris (IPNP), INSERM U1266, Team TURC, 75014 Paris, France; Corresponding author
Ludovic Bellier
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Alejandro O. Blenkmann
Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; RITMO Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Jugoslav Ivanovic
Department of Neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Pål G. Larsson
Department of Neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Jack J. Lin
Department of Neurology and Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
Tor Endestad
Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; RITMO Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Neuropsychology, Helgeland Hospital, Mosjøen, Norway
Anne-Kristin Solbakk
Department of Neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; RITMO Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Neuropsychology, Helgeland Hospital, Mosjøen, Norway
Robert T. Knight
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Summary: Emerging research supports a role of the insula in human cognition. Here, we used intracranial EEG to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics in the insula during a verbal working memory (vWM) task. We found robust effects for theta, beta, and high frequency activity (HFA) during probe presentation requiring a decision. Theta band activity showed differential involvement across left and right insulae while sequential HFA modulations were observed along the anteroposterior axis. HFA in anterior insula tracked decision making and subsequent HFA was observed in posterior insula after the behavioral response. Our results provide electrophysiological evidence of engagement of different insula subregions in both decision-making and response monitoring during vWM and expand our knowledge of the role of the insula in complex human behavior.
