The Self and Its Right Insula—Differential Topography and Dynamic of Right vs. Left Insula

Scalabrini, Andrea; Wolman, Angelika; Northoff, Georg

doi:10.3390/brainsci11101312

Cited by 30 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…A recent large-scale imaging/fMRI meta-analysis by Qin and others. (2020) confirmed the key role of the right insula for the self (see also Scalabrini, Wolman and Northoff 2021). They observed especially the right insula, together with left insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, thalamus, and parahippocampus, to be involved in mediating the interoceptive self, that is, the self that is recruited during tasks requiring interoceptive awareness like the awareness of one's own heartbeat.…”

Section: Box 3: Outstanding Issues Of the Baseline Modelmentioning

confidence: 63%

Ongoing Brain Activity and Its Role in Cognition: Dual versus Baseline Models

et al. 2022

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What is the role of the brain’s ongoing activity for cognition? The predominant perspectives associate ongoing brain activity with resting state, the default-mode network (DMN), and internally oriented mentation. This triad is often contrasted with task states, non-DMN brain networks, and externally oriented mentation, together comprising a “dual model” of brain and cognition. In opposition to this duality, however, we propose that ongoing brain activity serves as a neuronal baseline; this builds upon Raichle’s original search for the default mode of brain function that extended beyond the canonical default-mode brain regions. That entails what we refer to as the “baseline model.” Akin to an internal biological clock for the rest of the organism, the ongoing brain activity may serve as an internal point of reference or standard by providing a shared neural code for the brain’s rest as well as task states, including their associated cognition. Such shared neural code is manifest in the spatiotemporal organization of the brain’s ongoing activity, including its global signal topography and dynamics like intrinsic neural timescales. We conclude that recent empirical evidence supports a baseline model over the dual model; the ongoing activity provides a global shared neural code that allows integrating the brain’s rest and task states, its DMN and non-DMN, and internally and externally oriented cognition.

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Section: Box 3: Outstanding Issues Of the Baseline Modelmentioning

confidence: 63%

Ongoing Brain Activity and Its Role in Cognition: Dual versus Baseline Models

et al. 2022

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“…To investigate the relationship between our different measures, we used measures from graph theory. Each measure was assigned to a node and connections between nodes were regularized partial correlations using Extended Bayesian Information Criterion and graphical least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (EBICglasso) method [14, 24, 46, 70]. We used two measures to quantify the position of each node in the network: strength of each node is the sum of the absolute input weights of that node whereas closeness is the inverse of the sum of all shortest paths from the node of interest to all other nodes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The self is a multifaceted higher-order cognitive feature of our mind which includes interoceptive, bodily, and mental features [13, 23, 36, 54]. Each of these facets has been associated with different regions in the brain like insula [70], temporoparietal junction (TPJ) [23, 32], and cortical midline structure (CMS) [10, 13, 17, 54]. This raises the question of their relationship and ultimately the topographic organization of these various regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Intrinsic Hierarchy of Self – Converging Topography and Dynamics

Çatal

Gunay

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The brain can be characterized by an intrinsic hierarchy in its topography which, as recently shown for the uni-transmodal distinction of core and periphery, converges with its dynamics. Does such intrinsic hierarchical organization in both topography and dynamic also apply to the brain's inner core itself and its higher-order cognitive functions like self? Applying multiple fMRI data sets, we show how the recently established three-layer topography of self (internal, external, mental) is already present during the resting state and carried over to task states including both task-specific and -unspecific effects. Moreover, the topographic hierarchy converges with corresponding dynamic changes (measured by power-law exponent, autocorrelation window, median frequency, sample entropy, complexity) during both rest and task states. Finally, analogous to the topographic hierarchy, we also demonstrate hierarchy among the different dynamic measures themselves according to background and foreground. Finally, we show task-specific- and un-specific effects in the hierarchies of both dynamics and topography. Together, we demonstrate the existence of an intrinsic topographic hierarchy of self and its convergence with dynamics.

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“…Importantly, the involvement of salience network regions' betweenness in both empathic dimensions (vicarious experience and intuitive understanding) indicates a convergent engagement of these brain regions in self-other matching processes, including experience as well as an understanding of one's own and others' emotions and feelings [129][130][131][132][133]. The anterior insula was associated with different levels of self-processing from interoceptive to exteroceptive and mental levels [134], showing higher resting-state centrality indices for all three levels of self [135]. Our findings imply that the anterior insula could be a key hub for the propagation of general viscero-motor information necessary for sharing as well as understanding others' emotional states [51,136].…”

Section: Brain Network and Empathy Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Intrinsic Shapes of Empathy: Functional Brain Network Topology Encodes Intersubjective Experience and Awareness Traits

et al. 2022

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Trait empathy is an essential personality feature in the intricacy of typical social inclinations of individuals. Empathy is likely supported by multilevel neuronal network functioning, whereas local topological properties determine network integrity. In the present functional MRI study (N = 116), we aimed to trace empathic traits to the intrinsic brain network architecture. Empathy was conceived as composed of two dimensions within the concept of pre-reflective, intersubjective understanding. Vicarious experience consists of the tendency to resonate with the feelings of other individuals, whereas intuitive understanding refers to a natural awareness of others’ emotional states. Analyses of graph theoretical measures of centrality showed a relationship between the fronto-parietal network and psychometric measures of vicarious experience, whereas intuitive understanding was associated with sensorimotor and subcortical networks. Salience network regions could constitute hubs for information processing underlying both dimensions. The network properties related to empathy dimensions mainly concern inter-network information flow. Moreover, interaction effects implied several sex differences in the relationship between functional network organization and trait empathy. These results reveal that distinct intrinsic topological network features explain individual differences in separate dimensions of intersubjective understanding. The findings could help understand the impact of brain damage or stimulation through alterations of empathy-related network integrity.

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The Self and Its Right Insula—Differential Topography and Dynamic of Right vs. Left Insula

Cited by 30 publications

References 64 publications

Ongoing Brain Activity and Its Role in Cognition: Dual versus Baseline Models

Ongoing Brain Activity and Its Role in Cognition: Dual versus Baseline Models

The Intrinsic Hierarchy of Self – Converging Topography and Dynamics

Intrinsic Shapes of Empathy: Functional Brain Network Topology Encodes Intersubjective Experience and Awareness Traits

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