Your brain may rely on sweeping waves of electrical activity to turn what your eyes see into a clear picture of the world.

Known as neural traveling waves, these electrical patterns move through brain tissue rather than remaining fixed in one location. By changing how responsive different groups of neurons are at a given moment, they may influence your attention, perception, and behavior.

In a review published in Neuron, Salk Institute neuroscientists argue that these waves are not merely background activity. Instead, they may function as a computational engine that helps the visual cortex create an internal model of the surrounding world. Similar processes could also operate in other parts of the brain.