A link between the systems: functional differentiation and integration within the human insula revealed by...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• The insular cortex is hypothesized to integrate diverse perceptions, emotions, thoughts, and plans into a unified subjective experience.
• While an integrative role is proposed, anatomical and functional studies suggest regional differentiation within the insula.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the functional differentiation of the insular cortex.
• To explore the mechanisms underlying functional integration within the insula.

Main Methods:

• Activation-likelihood-estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of 1,768 functional neuroimaging experiments.
• Mapping functional activations to distinct insular regions and brain networks.

Main Results:

• Identified four functionally distinct regions in the human insula: social-emotional, sensorimotor, olfacto-gustatory, and cognitive.
• Sensorimotor tasks activated the mid-posterior insula; social-emotional tasks activated the anterior-ventral insula.
• Olfactory-gustatory stimuli activated the central insula, and cognitive tasks activated the anterior-dorsal insula.

Conclusions:

• The anterior-dorsal insula exhibited overlap across multiple cognitive and sensory functions, suggesting a key role in functional integration.
• This integration in the anterior-dorsal insula may link different functional systems, creating a coherent experience of the world and contextualizing thoughts and actions.