Core regions are bilateral anterior insula and anterior midcingulate cortex. Regions of the midcingulo-insular network additionally include less well characterized areas such as inferior parietal cortex, right temporal parietal junction and lateral prefrontal cortex, as well as subcortical structures, including the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area, periaqueductal grey, central nucleus of the amygdala, hypothalamus, parabrachial nucleus, and basal ventromedial nucleus of the thalamus.
The cognitive label “salience” is applied to this network for its broad role in identifying important, or salient, information. Salience processing involves the detection of behaviorally relevant environmental stimuli and may include internally generated (i.e. remembered) information. While the term “salience network” originated from analysis of resting state fMRI data, this descriptor is consistent with findings from task fMRI of homeostatic, emotional, and cognitive factors associated with subjective salience.
References
Uddin, L. Q., Yeo, B. T., & Spreng, R. N. (2019). Towards a universal taxonomy of macro-scale functional human brain networks. Brain topography, 32(6), 926-942.