Optogenetic stimulation of anterior insular cortex neurons in male rats reveals causal mechanisms underlying suppression of the default mode network by the salience network

Abstract

The salience network has been hypothesised to modulate default mode network activity during stimulus-driven cognition. Here, the authors show that in rats, stimulation of the anterior insular cortex, a key node of the salience network, suppresses the default mode network and decouples these networks, providing in vivo evidence of a causal role of the anterior insular cortex in brain network switching.