Meling, T. R. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2025

Brain Dynamics of Mental Manipulation

Humans effortlessly juggle their internal thoughts, but the neuronal dynamics that support mental manipulation are largely unknown. Leveraging the high spatiotemporal fidelity of intracranial recordings in humans (N = 30), we provide evidence that mental sound manipulation involves the inhibition of sensory cortex and the coordinated engagement of memory and control networks. This modulation manifests in two ways. First, there is a shift in the balance between faster (> 30 Hz) and slower (< 30 Hz) dynamics in primary and secondary auditory areas, suggesting a decrease in local excitability. Second, there is a distributed increase in oscillatory synchrony (6-10 Hz), which predicts imagery vividness and task performance. This evidence points to a key role of local excitability and inter-areal synchrony in the manipulation of thought.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Auditory deviance detection in the human insula: An intracranial EEG study

While the human insula is known to be involved in auditory processing, knowledge about its precise functional role and the underlying electrophysiology is limited. To assess its role in automatic auditory deviance detection we analyzed the high frequency EEG activity (75-145 Hz) from 90 intracranial insular electrodes across 16 patients who were candidates for resective epilepsy surgery while they passively listened to a stream of standard and deviant tones. Deviant and standard tones differed in four physical dimensions: intensity, frequency, location and time. Auditory responses were found in the short and long gyri, and the anterior, superior, and inferior segments of the circular sulcus of the insular cortex, but only a subset of electrodes in the inferior segment showed deviance detection responses, i.e. a greater and later response to deviants relative to standards. Altogether, our results indicate that the human insula is engaged during auditory deviance detection.

neuroscience↗