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An extension of such an encoding framework across the neocortex could similarly serve to bind disparate multisensory signals into ongoing, coherent, phase-coded processes. Whether the neocortex exhibits unique large-scale traveling waves distinct from that of the hippocampus, however, remains unknown. Here, using cortex-wide electrocorticography in freely moving mice, we find that theta oscillations are organized into bilaterally-symmetric spatiotemporal \u201cmodes\u201d that span virtually the entire neocortex. The dominant mode (Mode 1) is a divergent traveling wave that originates from retrosplenial cortex and whose amplitude correlates with mouse speed. Secondary modes are asynchronous spiral waves centered over primary somatosensory cortex (Modes 2 and 3), which become prominent during rapid drops in amplitude and synchrony (null spikes) and which underlie a phase reset of Mode 1. These structured cortex-wide traveling waves may provide a scaffold for large-scale phase-coding of information across the cortex.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnsys.2025.1557096","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,19]],"date-time":"2025-06-19T01:31:19Z","timestamp":1750296679000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Cortex-wide spatiotemporal motifs of theta oscillations are coupled to freely moving behavior"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Nicholas J.","family":"Sattler","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Wehr","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"8616","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.92.19.8616","article-title":"Cortical activity flips among quasi-stationary states.","volume":"92","author":"Abeles","year":"1995","journal-title":"Proc. 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