The salience network is associated with detecting important events and switching between other large-scale brain networks.
Its major hubs include the anterior insula and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Together, these regions help identify internally or externally important signals, such as pain, emotional stimuli, errors, or unexpected changes. The network can then help direct attention and recruit control systems.
One influential model proposes that the salience network helps shift the brain between the default mode network, which is active during many internally focused processes, and the central executive network, which supports demanding goal-directed tasks. This switching role is a network-level function rather than the job of one isolated brain spot.
The term “salience” means importance or prominence, not simply strength. A faint but meaningful signal may be highly salient, while a loud but irrelevant sound may not be. The network has been studied in attention, emotion, decision-making, and several neurological and psychiatric conditions.