Insular Traveling Waves Link Distributed Neural Dynamics to Human Memory Performance

The insula is a critical brain region that plays a foundational role in adaptive human behaviors, with diverse subregions performing distinct functional roles. However, explaining how these insular subregions interact to support behaviors is elusive. Using direct recordings from humans performing a spatial episodic memory task, we show that traveling waves within the insula modulate neuronal interactions across insula subregions, by propagating in distinct spatial patterns during specific phases of memory. In addition to traveling plane waves, insula waves also propagated in complex, heterogenous spatial patterns across task conditions. Insular traveling waves correlated with memory success, highlighting the critical role of insular traveling waves in orchestrating memory performance. Our study suggests that insular traveling waves are a key mechanism for modulating interactions and neural coding across regions to support memory processing and potentially a biomarker for investigating dysfunctions in neurological disorders.