Somatovisceral motor patterns in the insula

Showers, Mary Jane C.; Lauer, Edward W.

doi:10.1002/cne.901170109

Cited by 100 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…From this perspective, the spindle cells of the anterior cingulate cortex might represent a population of specialized neurons that could integrate inputs with emotional overtones and project to highly specific motor centers controlling vocalization, facial expression, or autonomic function. In addition, the presence of at least some spindle cells in the anterior portion of the insula supports the notion of their role in autonomic control, because this region also is known to be involved in the regulation of visceral, olfactory, and gustatory functions, as well as complex alimentary behaviors (46)(47)(48)(49). However, in humans the anterior cingulate cortex also appears to be involved in higher-level processes that are responsible for more than merely sensory input or motor output.…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 54%

A neuronal morphologic type unique to humans and great apes

Nimchinsky

Gilissen

Allman

et al. 1999

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

452

348

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We report the existence and distribution of an unusual type of projection neuron, a large, spindle-shaped cell, in layer Vb of the anterior cingulate cortex of pongids and hominids. These spindle cells were not observed in any other primate species or any other mammalian taxa, and their volume was correlated with brain volume residuals, a measure of encephalization in higher primates. These observations are of particular interest when considering primate neocortical evolution, as they reveal possible adaptive changes and functional modifications over the last 15-20 million years in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region that plays a major role in the regulation of many aspects of autonomic function and of certain cognitive processes. That in humans these unique neurons have been shown previously to be severely affected in the degenerative process of Alzheimer's disease suggests that some of the differential neuronal susceptibility that occurs in the human brain in the course of age-related dementing illnesses may have appeared only recently during primate evolution.

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Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 54%

A neuronal morphologic type unique to humans and great apes

Nimchinsky

Gilissen

Allman

et al. 1999

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

452

348

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Neurons in this area showed responsiveness to auditory and to somatosensory stimulation, the latter with large receptive fields covering the limbs, trunk, or entire body (Schneider et al, 1993). Early stimulation experiments at the posterior insula reported that gross movements (Showers and Lauer, 1961) as well as restricted movements of single muscles or small groups of muscles could be elicited (Sugar et al, 1948). This led to the assumption that the insula might also be involved in motor processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Awareness of the Functioning of One's Own Limbs Mediated by the Insular Cortex?

Karnath

Baier²,

Nägele³

2005

J. Neurosci.

330

224

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Normally, we are aware of the current functions of our arms and legs. However, this self-evident status may change dramatically after brain damage. Some patients with "anosognosia" typically are convinced that their limbs function normally, although they have obvious motor defects after stroke. Such patients may experience their own paretic limbs as strange or as not belonging to them and may even attribute ownership to another person and try to push their paralyzed limb out of bed. These odd beliefs have been attributed to disturbances somewhere in the right hemisphere. Here, we use lesion mapping in 27 stroke patients to show that the right posterior insula is commonly damaged in patients with anosognosia for hemiplegia/hemiparesis but is significantly less involved in hemiplegic/hemiparetic patients without anosognosia. The function of the posterior insular cortex has been controversially discussed. Recent neuroimaging results in healthy subjects revealed specific involvement of this area in the subject's feeling of being versus not being involved in a movement. Our finding corresponds with this observation and suggests that the insular cortex is integral to self-awareness and to one's beliefs about the functioning of body parts.

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“…In addition, it is quite elongated in the rostro-caudal axis, so that it encompasses areas with different anatomical features. On the motor side, according to what has been shown by quite old data in humans (Penfield and Faulk 1955;Showers and Lauer 1961; see also for more recent demonstration Krolak-Salmon et al 2003), it has been reported that microstimulation of the monkey insula can produce both somatic and visceral responses . One example of the latter is the gesture observed when vomiting.…”

Section: Emotion Understandingmentioning

confidence: 96%

The mirror neuron system: How cognitive functions emerge from motor organization

Fogassi

2011

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

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In the cortical motor system, matching between motor representations and sensory inputs allows the emergence of different types of cognitive abilities. One of these matching mechanisms is represented by monkey mirror neurons that activate both when a monkey executes a goal-related motor act and when it observes a similar motor act performed by another individual. The mirror neuron matching system that probably underlies action understanding has been demonstrated also in humans. In this article the main features of mirror neurons and the findings demonstrating their relevance for intention and emotion understanding in humans will be described and discussed. A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 2 IntroductionThe notion that we possess a kind of immediate understanding of what others are doing or feeling is quite old. Adam Smith, for example, proposed the concept of sympathy, according to which we are capable of feeling something similar to what others feel by simply observing others' behaviour (Smith, 1976). Many of his descriptions of the attitude of a person observing the actions and emotions of others resemble the notion of empathy. Although nowadays this notion is often used to indicate the capacity to share others ' feelings, Lipps (1903) introduced this term (einfuhlung) in aesthetics to indicate the attitude of an observer in front of an artist's work. Note that in his original definition the observer is not looking at another individual. However, one can easily imagine that this attitude becomes even more pronounced when we are in front of other persons acting or feeling emotions. Although it is known that, at least for emotions, people "empathize" with different degrees of involvement, nobody can deny that we share this capacity with all healthy individuals of our species.A very important issue about empathy concerns the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. One hypothesis is that higher order sensory elaboration, together with memory retrieval of known biological stimuli, can account for this type of knowledge. A further elaboration of this theory is that empathy relies on some type of inferential process, like reasoning. This type of view would assign a major role to associative cortical regions that would receive high order sensory information and transform it into perception. A possible role of internal motor representations in this process would be virtually excluded. An opposite theory postulates that understanding actions and the internal states of others can be achieved through an automatic process that matches the biological sensory input with the internal motor knowledge of the observer. According to this view internal motor representations play a crucial role, because they represent the personal knowledge through which every individual assigns meaning to the external world, in this case to the biological stimuli present in it.Page 3 of 29 A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 3 The two theories about the possible neural mechanisms underlying empathy can be included in a more general t...

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Somatovisceral motor patterns in the insula

Cited by 100 publications

References 16 publications

A neuronal morphologic type unique to humans and great apes

A neuronal morphologic type unique to humans and great apes

Awareness of the Functioning of One's Own Limbs Mediated by the Insular Cortex?

The mirror neuron system: How cognitive functions emerge from motor organization

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