Anterior insula regulates brain network transitions that gate conscious access

Abstract

Highlights d Dysfunction of anterior insula during anesthesia disables brain network transitions d Prestimulus activity of anterior insula predicts conscious access of visual stimuli d Anterior insula might be a gate for conscious access of sensory information d This cortical gate occupies an intermediate position along a neurocognitive hierarchy

World Modeling, Integrated Information, and the Physical Substrates of Consciousness; Hidden Sources of the Stream of Experience?

“…Theoretically, restricted localizability of interoceptive sensations may contribute to quasisynesthetic percepts in which they are 'infused' into other modalities (Safron, 2021a), potentially contributing to various forms of phenomenal binding. The life-centered view of THS is highly compatible with this widely distributed and functionally central account of interoceptive inference, including with respect to conscious awareness (Huang et al, 2021). However, IWMT differs from THS in suggesting that not only may brainstems be unconscious on their own, but even insula-mediated interoception may only attain to consciousness via influencing belief dynamics centered on posterior-medial/lateral-parietal cortices.…”

Hallucinations: A Functional Network Model of How Sensory Representations Become Selected for Conscious Awareness in Schizophrenia

“…In addition, a slow anesthesia induction study showed that loss of conscious responsiveness was associated with suppression of anterior insular activity and disruption in frontoparietal ECN activity ( Warnaby et al, 2016 ). A recent study of propofol titration in healthy participants similarly reported loss of conscious responsiveness was associated with dysfunction of anterior insular activity and impaired dynamic transitions between DMN and an executive attention network ( Huang et al, 2021 ). Based on these findings, it has been theorized that the anterior insula may help regulate which piece(s) of information gain access to the GW ( Michel, 2017 ; Evrard, 2019 ; Huang et al, 2021 ) by representing the salience of different types of brain representations (e.g., of homeostatic, sensory, and emotional states) and mapping whether the representation has priority to enter the GW of consciousness ( Michel, 2017 ).…”

“…A recent study of propofol titration in healthy participants similarly reported loss of conscious responsiveness was associated with dysfunction of anterior insular activity and impaired dynamic transitions between DMN and an executive attention network ( Huang et al, 2021 ). Based on these findings, it has been theorized that the anterior insula may help regulate which piece(s) of information gain access to the GW ( Michel, 2017 ; Evrard, 2019 ; Huang et al, 2021 ) by representing the salience of different types of brain representations (e.g., of homeostatic, sensory, and emotional states) and mapping whether the representation has priority to enter the GW of consciousness ( Michel, 2017 ).…”

A Transcriptome Community-and-Module Approach of the Human Mesoconnectome

“…For the DMN, we identified three modules that mapped to such network in D1, modules 1, 4, and 6 (orange links in Figure 8). They also link other brain regions previously labeled as gateways to different brain networks, for example, the insular gyri for the executive network [116], and consciousness-related networks [117], and the parietal lobe for social interaction networks [118]. For D2, the DMN mapped modules are fuzzier, but their approximate counterparts are modules 2, 3, 4, and 5.…”