At the heart of the ventral attention system: the right anterior insula.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Eckert MA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2712290 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Meta-analytic summaries of neuroimaging studies point to at least two major functional-anatomic subdivisions within the anterior insula that contribute to the detection and processing of salient information: a dorsal region that is routinely active during attention tasks and a ventral region that is routinely active during affective experience. In two independent samples of cognitively normal human adults, we used intrinsic functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging to demonstrate that the right dorsal and right ventral anterior insula are nodes in separable large-scale functional networks. Furthermore, stronger intrinsic connectivity within the right dorsal anterior insula network was associated with better performance on a task involving attention and processing speed whereas stronger connectivity within the right ventral anterior insula network was associated with more intense affective experience. These results support the hypothesis that the identification and manipulation of salient information is subserved by at least two brain networks anchored in the right anterior insula that exhibit distinct large-scale topography and dissociable behavioral correlates.
| S-EPMC3345941 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveDaytime cognitive impairment is an essential symptom of primary insomnia (PI). However, the underlying neural substrate remains largely unknown. Many studies have shown that the right anterior insula (rAI) as a key node of salience network (SN) plays a critical role in switching between the executive control network (ECN) and the default mode network (DMN) for better performance of cognitively demanding tasks. Aberrant effective connectivity (directional functional connectivity) of rAI with ECN or DMN may be one reason for daytime cognitive impairment in PI patients. Up to now, no effective connectivity study has been conducted on patients with PI during resting state. Our aim is to investigate the effective connectivity between the rAI and the other voxels in the whole brain in PI.Materials and methodsFifty drug-naive patients with PI and forty age- and sex-matched healthy controls were scanned using resting-state functional MRI. Seed-based Granger causality analysis was used to examine effective connectivity between the rAI, including ventral and dorsal part, and the whole brain. The effective connectivity was compared between the two groups and was correlated with clinical characteristics.ResultsCompared with controls, patients showed decreased effective connectivity from the rAI to the bilateral precuneus, the left postcentral gyrus (extending to bilateral precuneus) and the bilateral cerebellum posterior lobe, and decreased effective connectivity from the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) to the rAI (single voxel P < 0.001, AlphaSim corrected with P < 0.01). In addition, effective connectivity from the ventral rAI to the left postcentral gyrus and from the left OFC to the ventral rAI were significantly negatively correlated with Insomnia Severity Index scores (r = -0.28/P = 0.046 and r = -0.29/P = 0.038, respectively).ConclusionThe present study is the first to reveal aberrant effective connectivity between the SN hub (rAI) and the posterior DMN hub (precuneus) as well as decision-making region (OFC) and sensori-motor region in PI. These findings suggest an aberrant salience processing system of the rAI in PI patients.
| S-EPMC5951943 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In humans, the anterior insula (aI) has been the topic of considerable research and ascribed a vast number of functional properties by way of neuroimaging and lesion studies. Here, we argue that the aI, at least in part, plays a role in domain-general attentional control and highlight studies (Dosenbach et al. 2006; Dosenbach et al. 2007) supporting this view. Additionally, we discuss a study (Ploran et al. 2007) that implicates aI in processes related to the capture of focal attention. Task-level control and focal attention may or may not reflect information processing supported by a single functional area (within the aI). Therefore, we apply a novel technique (Cohen et al. 2008) that utilizes resting state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) to determine whether separable regions exist within the aI. rs-fcMRI mapping suggests that the ventral portion of the aI is distinguishable from more dorsal/anterior regions, which are themselves distinct from more posterior parts of the aI. When these regions are applied to functional MRI (fMRI) data, the ventral and dorsal/anterior regions support processes potentially related to both task-level control and focal attention, whereas the more posterior aI regions did not. These findings suggest that there exists some functional heterogeneity within aI that may subserve related but distinct types of higher-order cognitive processing.
| S-EPMC2886908 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:The mid-posterior part of the insula is involved in processing bodily sensations and urges and is activated during tic generation in Tourette syndrome. The dorsal anterior part of the insula, however, integrates sensory and emotional information with cognitive valuation and is implicated in interoception. The right dorsal anterior insula also participates in urge suppression in healthy subjects. This study examined the role of the right dorsal anterior insula in the urge to tic in Tourette syndrome. METHODS:Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 13 adult Tourette patients and 13 matched controls. The role of the right dorsal anterior insula within the urge-tic network was investigated using graph theory-based neural network analysis. The functional connectivity of the right dorsal anterior insula was also correlated with urge and tic severity. RESULTS:Even though the patients did not exhibit any overt tics, the right dorsal anterior insula demonstrated higher connectivity, especially with the frontostriatal nodes of the urge-tic network in patients compared with controls. The functional connectivity between the right dorsal anterior insula and bilateral supplementary motor area also correlated positively with urge severity in patients. CONCLUSIONS:These results suggest that the right dorsal anterior insula is part of the urge-tic network and could influence the urge- and tic-related cortico-striato-thalamic regions even during rest in Tourette syndrome. It might be responsible for heightened awareness of bodily sensations generating premonitory urges in Tourette syndrome.
| S-EPMC5088605 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The anterior insular cortex, a central node of the salience network, plays a critical role in cognitive control and attention. Here, we investigated the feasibility of enhancing attention using real-time fMRI neurofeedback training that targets the right anterior insular cortex (rAIC). 56 healthy adults underwent two neurofeedback training sessions. The experimental group received feedback from neural responses in the rAIC, while control groups received sham feedback from the primary visual cortex or no feedback. Cognitive functioning was evaluated before, immediately after, and three months post-training. Our results showed that only the rAIC neurofeedback group successfully increased activity in the rAIC. Furthermore, this group showed enhanced attention-related alertness up to three months after the training. Our findings provide evidence for the potential of rAIC neurofeedback as a viable approach for enhancing attention-related alertness, which could pave the way for non-invasive therapeutic strategies to address conditions characterized by attention deficits.
| S-EPMC10839684 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Resting-state functional connectivity (FC) has proven a powerful approach to understand the neural underpinnings of chronic pain, reporting altered connectivity in 3 main networks: the default mode network (DMN), central executive network, and the salience network (SN). The interrelation and possible mechanisms of these changes are less well understood in chronic pain. Based on emerging evidence of its role to drive switches between network states, the right anterior insula (rAI, an SN hub) may play a dominant role in network connectivity changes underpinning chronic pain. To test this hypothesis, we used seed-based resting-state FC analysis including dynamic and effective connectivity metrics in 25 people with chronic osteoarthritis (OA) pain and 19 matched healthy volunteers. Compared with controls, participants with painful knee OA presented with increased anticorrelation between the rAI (SN) and DMN regions. Also, the left dorsal prefrontal cortex (central executive network hub) showed more negative FC with the right temporal gyrus. Granger causality analysis revealed increased negative influence of the rAI on the posterior cingulate (DMN) in patients with OA in line with the observed enhanced anticorrelation. Moreover, dynamic FC was lower in the DMN of patients and thus more similar to temporal dynamics of the SN. Together, these findings evidence a widespread network disruption in patients with persistent OA pain and point toward a driving role of the rAI.
| S-EPMC5916486 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Stopping incipient action activates both the right inferior frontal cortex (rIFC) and the anterior insula (rAI). Controversy has arisen as to whether these comprise a unitary cortical cluster-the rIFC/rAI-or whether rIFC is the primary stopping locus. To address this, we recorded directly from these structures while taking advantage of the high spatiotemporal resolution of closely spaced stereo-electro-encephalographic (SEEG) electrodes. We studied 12 patients performing a stop-signal task. On each trial they initiated a motor response (Go) and tried to stop to an occasional stop signal. Both the rIFC and rAI exhibited an increase in broadband gamma activity (BGA) after the stop signal and within the time of stopping (stop signal reaction time, SSRT), regardless of the success of stopping. The proportion of electrodes with this response was significantly greater in the rIFC than the rAI. Also, the rIFC response preceded that in the rAI. Last, while the BGA increase in rIFC occurred mainly prior to SSRT, the rAI showed a sustained increase in the beta and low gamma bands after the SSRT. In summary, the rIFC was activated soon after the stop signal, prior to and more robustly than the rAI, which on the other hand, showed a more prolonged response after the onset of stopping. Our results are most compatible with the notion that the rIFC is involved in triggering outright stopping in concert with a wider network, while the rAI is likely engaged by other processes, such as arousal, saliency, or behavioral adjustments. Hum Brain Mapp 39:189-203, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
| S-EPMC5909846 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Few studies have explored the neurobiological basis of insight level in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), though the salience network (SN) has been implicated in insight deficits in schizophrenia. This study was then designed to investigate whether resting-state (rs) functional connectivity (FC) of SN was associated with insight level in OCD patients. We analyzed rs-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 21 OCD patients with good insight (OCD-GI), 19 OCD patients with poor insight (OCD-PI), and 24 healthy controls (HCs). Seed-based whole-brain FC and ROI (region of interest)-wise connectivity analyses were performed with seeds/ROIs in the bilateral anterior insula (AI) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). The right AI-right medial orbital frontal cortex (mOFC) connectivity was found to be uniquely decreased in the OCD-PI group, and the value of this aberrant connectivity correlated with insight level in OCD patients. In addition, we found that the OCD-GI group had significantly increased right AI-left dACC connectivity within the SN, relative to HCs (overall trend for groups: OCD-GI > OCD-PI > HC). Our findings suggest that abnormal right AI-right mOFC FC may mediate insight deficits in OCD, perhaps due to impaired encoding and integration of self-evaluative information about OCD-related beliefs and behaviors. Our findings indicate a SN connectivity dissociation between OCD-GI and OCD-PI patients and support the notion of considering OCD-GI and OCD-PI as two distinct disorder subtypes.
| S-EPMC5397581 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Various studies demonstrate a special role of the right compared to the left anterior insula in mediating our self. However, the neural features of the right insula that allow for its special role remain unclear. Presupposing a spatiotemporal model of self-"Basis model of self-specificity" (BMSS)-we here address the following question: what spatial-topographic and temporal-dynamic features render neural activity in the right insula to be more suitable in mediating self-specificity than the left insula? First, applying fMRI, we demonstrate that the right insula (i) exhibits higher degrees of centrality in rest, and (ii) higher context-dependent functional connectivity in a self-specific task among regions of distinct layers of self (intero-, extero-proprioceptive, and mental). Second, using EEG in rest and task, we show that the right insula shows longer autocorrelation window (ACW) in its neural activity than both left insula and other regions of the different layers of self. Together, we demonstrate special topographic, i.e., high functional connectivity, and dynamic, i.e., long ACW, neural features of the right insula compared to both left insula and other regions of the distinct layers of self. This suits neural activity in the right insula ideally for high functional integration and temporal continuity as key features of the self including its intero-, extero-proprioceptive, and mental layers.
| S-EPMC8533814 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Time-invariant resting-state functional connectivity studies have illuminated the crucial role of the right anterior insula (rAI) in prominent social impairments of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, a recent dynamic connectivity study demonstrated that rather than being stationary, functional connectivity patterns of the rAI vary significantly across time. The present study aimed to explore the differences in functional connectivity in dynamic states of the rAI between individuals with ASD and typically developing controls (TD). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from a publicly available database were analyzed in 209 individuals with ASD and 298 demographically matched controls. A k-means clustering algorithm was utilized to obtain five dynamic states of functional connectivity of the rAI. The temporal properties, frequency properties, and meta-analytic decoding were first identified in TD group to obtain the characteristics of each rAI dynamic state. Multivariate analysis of variance was then performed to compare the functional connectivity patterns of the rAI between ASD and TD groups in obtained states. Significantly impaired connectivity was observed in ASD in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex, which are two critical hubs of the default mode network (DMN). States in which ASD showed decreased connectivity between the rAI and these regions were those more relevant to socio-cognitive processing. From a dynamic perspective, these findings demonstrate partially impaired resting-state functional connectivity patterns between the rAI and DMN across states in ASD, and provide novel insights into the neural mechanisms underlying social impairments in individuals with ASD.
| S-EPMC6865537 | biostudies-literature