Emotional susceptibility trait modulates insula responses and functional connectivity in flavor processing

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Sensory Processing

Background:

• Emotional Susceptibility (ES), a facet of Neuroticism, relates to individual differences in emotional experience.
• The anterior insula is crucial for processing affective stimuli, including taste.
• Understanding the neural basis of ES can illuminate emotional regulation mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between Emotional Susceptibility (ES) and neural responses in the anterior insula to affective taste stimuli.
• To explore if intrinsic functional connectivity patterns are associated with ES.
• To identify neural correlates of individual differences in emotional processing.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in 25 female participants.
• Participants underwent fMRI while receiving neutral, pleasant, and unpleasant taste stimuli.
• Task-free resting-state fMRI was employed to assess intrinsic functional connectivity.

Main Results:

• Individual differences in ES predicted distinct neural activity in the left anterior insula.
• Low ES individuals showed heightened neural responses to both pleasant and unpleasant tastes compared to neutral.
• High ES individuals exhibited similar neural responses across all taste conditions.
• High ES was linked to reduced intrinsic functional connectivity between the left anterior insula and left cerebellum during rest.

Conclusions:

• Individual differences in Emotional Susceptibility are associated with differential anterior insula responses to sensory flavor stimuli.
• Altered cortico-cerebellar functional connectivity in high ES individuals may underlie differences in emotional experience regulation.
• Findings suggest a neural basis for how personality traits influence sensory and emotional processing.