All parts of the brain › Networks › Salience network

Where is the salience network?

Mostly deep and toward the front: it is anchored at the anterior insula, folded inside the lateral sulcus, and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex on the inner face, with deep nodes in the amygdala, putamen and ventral striatum, thalamus, hypothalamus and midbrain. [1]

Honest limit: networks are defined from brain imaging, and this atlas lights whole gyri, not the network’s exact borders. [2]

The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The list of parts still says what each one does for the salience network.

Lit: whole parts; region borders not drawn.

Slice

All 7 parts are lit together. Drag to turn, pinch or scroll to zoom, tap a part on the brain or a name in the list to focus it; .

Anterior insula is a region on the insula, not a separate shape. The 3D model has no shape for it, so the whole insula is lit; the region’s exact border is not drawn.

Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex is a region on the cingulate gyrus, not a separate shape. The 3D model has no shape for it, so the whole cingulate gyrus is lit; the region’s exact border is not drawn.

Ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra is a region on the midbrain, not a separate shape. The 3D model has no shape for it, so the whole midbrain is lit; the region’s exact border is not drawn.

Salience network: 7 parts lit

Insula, cingulate gyrus, amygdala, putamen, thalamus, hypothalamus and midbrain. Tap one to see where it is and what it does.

The parts and their roles

Its front part, the anterior insula, is one of the network’s two anchors: it receives input from many senses and links awareness of the body’s inner state (such as thirst, pain and fatigue) with emotional salience. [1][3] Where is the insula?
Holds the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, the other anchor; with the nearby dorsomedial prefrontal cortex it is thought to send the network’s motor output, and the anterior cingulate takes part in allocating attention and detecting errors. [1][4] Where is the cingulate gyrus?
The source lists the sublenticular extended amygdala among the network’s subcortical nodes; the amygdala itself has a primary role in processing memory, decision-making and emotional responses. [1][5] Where is the amygdala?
Listed among the subcortical nodes, together with the ventral striatum, the region of the nucleus accumbens, which lies where the head of the caudate nucleus meets the front of the putamen. [1][6] Where is the putamen?
Its dorsomedial (medial dorsal) nucleus is a subcortical node of the network; it relays input from the amygdala and is interconnected with the prefrontal cortex. [1][7] Where is the thalamus?
Listed as a subcortical node of the network; it links the nervous system to the hormone system through the pituitary gland and keeps the body’s internal state in balance. [1][8] Where is the hypothalamus?
Holds the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental area, a node of the network whose dopamine cells respond to new stimuli, unexpected rewards and cues that predict a reward. [1][9] Where is the midbrain?

Named areas on the lit gyri

Anterior insula, on the : the front of the insula, made of three or four short gyri; one of the network’s two anchors, and home to von Economo (spindle) neurons. [1][3]
Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, on the : the upper front part of the cingulate cortex, the collar of cortex around the front of the corpus callosum (Brodmann areas 24, 32 and 33 make up the anterior cingulate); the network’s other anchor. [1][4]
Ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra, on the : dopamine cell groups near the midline on the floor of the midbrain, the substantia nigra lying to the side of the ventral tegmental area. [1][9]

How they work together

The network detects and filters what stands out, inside the body or outside it, and recruits the networks needed to deal with it; it is thought to switch the brain between the default mode network and the central executive network. [1]
It is also tied to detecting and integrating emotional and sensory stimuli, and, working with the dorsal attention network, the ventral (salience) network lets attention be steered on the fly. [1]
Its two anchors hold an unusual cell type, von Economo (spindle) neurons, found in the anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, at higher density in the right frontal insula. [1][3]
It is found in resting-state fMRI scans by independent component analysis or by seed-based connectivity; the source says it may also include the inferior parietal cortex, which is left unlit here, and since there is no universal atlas of networks its listed nodes differ between studies. [1][2]

The default mode network is the resting-state network the salience network is thought to switch the brain out of. [1] Where is the default mode network?

Sources

Facts describe anatomy and normal function only. A part lit here takes part in the salience network; it does not do it alone, and it does other jobs too. The 3D model is the adult male BodyParts3D brain (credits and licence); on it the brainstem includes the midbrain, pons and medulla, so lighting the brainstem lights all three.