On the role of the insula cortex in inhibitory control: insights from alpha and theta directed connectivity dynamics

Inhibiting inappropriate prepotent responses is fundamental to goal-directed behavior, allowing individuals to adapt to changing environmental demands. Recent conceptualization of neural activity during cognitive control has suggested a close interplay of theta and alpha band activity and their role in information flow across cortical regions. In a sample of n = 104 healthy participants, we employed established experimental procedures and combined beamforming and directed connectivity (information flow) analysis in alpha and theta band activities to do this. The results showed that the insular cortex consistently emerged as a central hub, coordinating a flow of information between the anterior temporal lobe, the inferior frontal cortex, and the superior-medial frontal gyrus through alpha and theta oscillations. Alpha activity is implicated in selecting relevant stimuli, while theta band activity is key in reconfiguring perception-action associations during response inhibition. Increased directed connectivity towards the superior/middle frontal gyrus during response inhibition suggests its involvement in implementing inhibitory control. Notably, there was a directed flow of information from theta to alpha band activity within the insular cortex when cognitive control demands were elevated. The findings provide novel mechanistic insights into how the insular cortex modulates stimulus-response mappings and perception-action reconfiguration through directed information exchange between neural activity patterns.