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Updated: May 25, 2026
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Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition
Published on: February 1, 2012
Cognition-emotion integration in the anterior insular cortex
Xiaosi Gu1, Xun Liu, Nicholas T Van Dam
1Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|January 26, 2012
Summary
Cognitive and emotional processes share brain networks, with the anterior insula (AI) playing a key role in integrating these functions. This suggests a partially shared neural basis for cognition and emotion.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Affective Science
Background:
- Cognitive and affective processes are essential for human functioning.
- The interaction between cognitive and affective processes, whether parallel or integrated, is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interaction between cognitive demand and emotional valence in processing painful stimuli.
- To identify shared neural networks involved in cognitive-emotion integration.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to study brain activity.
- Participants performed tasks with varying cognitive demand (body part vs. laterality judgment) while viewing painful and nonpainful stimuli.
- Behavioral data (reaction times, error rates) and neuroimaging data were collected.
Main Results:
- Behavioral data indicated an interaction between cognitive demand and stimulus valence, with increased errors and reaction times for painful stimuli under high cognitive load.
- fMRI revealed significant interactions between cognitive demand and stimulus valence in the anterior insula (AI), primary somatosensory cortex (SI), and frontoparietal network.
- Activity in AI and SI, but not posterior insula, reflected main effects of cognitive demand and stimulus valence.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive and emotional processes partially share common brain networks.
- The anterior insula (AI) appears to be a crucial hub for integrating cognitive and emotional information.
- These findings advance our understanding of the neural underpinnings of cognition-emotion interaction.
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