The pathoconnectivity network analysis of the insular cortex: A morphometric fingerprinting.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Neurology
• Systems Neuroscience

Background:

• Brain disorders exhibit non-random patterns of alteration, often overlapping across pathologies.
• The insular cortex is frequently implicated in diverse brain diseases.
• Understanding these co-alteration patterns is crucial for deciphering disease mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the patterns of structural co-alteration in the insular cortex across brain disorders.
• To analyze the relationship between insular cortex gray matter alterations and functional connectivity.
• To identify behavioral correlates of insular co-alteration patterns.

Main Methods:

• Network analysis applied to meta-analytic data of brain disorders.
• Examination of gray matter alterations in insular cortex parcels.
• Correlation analysis between structural co-alteration and functional connectivity patterns.
• Investigation of behavioral profiles associated with insular co-alteration.

Main Results:

• The insular cortex shows significant co-alteration with a dense network of primarily cortical regions.
• Frontal lobe regions are most affected, while occipital regions are least affected.
• Co-alteration and co-activation patterns demonstrate substantial overlap, supporting a network-based distribution of brain disorder effects.
• Distinct pathoconnectivity profiles were identified for different insula sub-regions.

Conclusions:

• Brain disorder alterations are organized according to underlying brain network architecture.
• The insular cortex plays a central role in these widespread co-alteration networks.
• This study provides novel insights into the network-level impact of brain disorders on the insula.