Here, we review the structure and function of a core region in the vestibular cortex of humans that is located in the midposterior Sylvian fissure and referred to as the parieto-insular vestibular cortex (PIVC). Previous studies have investigated PIVC by using vestibular or visual motion stimuli and have observed activations that were distributed across multiple anatomical structures, including the temporo-parietal junction, retroinsula, parietal operculum, and posterior insula. However, it has remained unclear whether all of these anatomical areas correspond to PIVC and whether PIVC responds to both vestibular and visual stimuli. Recent results suggest that the region that has been referred to as PIVC in previous studies consists of multiple areas with different anatomical correlates and different functional specializations. Specifically, a vestibular but not visual area is located in the parietal operculum, close to the posterior insula, and likely corresponds to the nonhuman primate PIVC, while a visual-vestibular area is located in the retroinsular cortex and is referred to, for historical reasons, as the posterior insular cortex area (PIC). In this article, we review the anatomy, connectivity, and function of PIVC and PIC and propose that the core of the human vestibular cortex consists of at least two separate areas, which we refer to together as PIVC+. We also review the organization in the nonhuman primate brain and show that there are parallels to the proposed organization in humans.
Frank SM, Wirth AM, Greenlee MW. Visual-vestibular processing in the human Sylvian fissure. J Neurophysiol 116: 263-271, 2016. First published April 13, 2016 doi:10.1152/jn.00009.2016.-Unlike other sensory systems, the cortical organization of the human vestibular system is not well established. A central role is assumed for the region of the posterior Sylvian fissure, close to the posterior insula. At this site, activation during vestibular stimulation has been observed in previous imaging studies and labeled as the parieto-insular vestibular cortex area (PIVC). However, vestibular responses are found in other parts of the Sylvian fissure as well, including a region that is referred to as the posterior insular cortex (PIC). The anatomical and functional relationship between PIC and PIVC is still poorly understood, because both areas have never been compared in the same participants. Therefore, to better understand the apparently more complex organization of vestibular cortex in the Sylvian fissure, we employed caloric and visual object motion stimuli during functional magnetic resonance imaging and compared location and function of PIVC and PIC in the same participants. Both regions responded to caloric vestibular stimulation, but only the activation pattern in right PIVC reliably represented the direction of the caloric stimulus. Conversely, activity in PIVC was suppressed during stimulation with visual object motion, whereas PIC showed activation. Area PIC is located at a more posterior site in the Sylvian fissure than PIVC. Our results suggest that PIVC and PIC should be considered separate areas in the vestibular Sylvian network, both in terms of location and function. area PIC; area PIVC; caloric vestibular stimulation; Sylvian fissure; vestibular cortex NEW & NOTEWORTHY In this paper we examine vestibular and visual processing at the center of human vestibular cortex in the Sylvian fissure. We find that two areas, referred to as parietoinsular vestibular cortex (PIVC) and posterior insular cortex (PIC), are located in the Sylvian fissure and exhibit different functional specializations. Our results suggest a more complex organization at the putative core of human vestibular cortex than previously assumed.A CENTRAL FUNCTION OF THE vestibular sensory system is to signal our position and acceleration in space. This information is of critical relevance for guiding locomotion and for process- There is accumulating evidence that the potential hub of the cortical vestibular network is located in a region including the posterior part of the Sylvian fissure (also called lateral sulcus), perisylvian cortex, and the posterior insula. At this site, functional imaging studies in humans found activation during vestibular stimulation (Bense et al. 2001;Dieterich et al. 2003;Eickhoff et al. 2006;Fasold et al. 2002;Lobel et al. 1998) and labeled it the parieto-insular vestibular cortex (PIVC), following terminology in the primate brain (Akbarian et al. 1988;Chen et al. 2010;Grüsser et al. 1990; Shinder and Newlands 2014...
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