The von economo neurons in apes and humans

Abstract

The von Economo neurons (VENs) are large bipolar neurons located in frontoinsular (FI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in great apes and humans but not other primates. We stereologically counted the VENs in FI and the limbic anterior (LA) area of ACC and found them to be more numerous in humans than in apes. In humans, VENs first appear in small numbers in the 36th week postconception are rare at birth and increase in number during the first 8 months after birth. There are significantly more VENs in the right hemisphere than the left in FI and LA in postnatal brains; this may be related to asymmetries in the autonomic nervous system. The activity of the inferior anterior insula, containing FI, is related to physiological changes in the body, decision-making, error recognition, and awareness. In a preliminary diffusion tensor imaging study of the connections of FI, we found that the VEN-containing regions connect with the frontal pole as well as with other parts of frontal and insular cortex, the septum, and the amygdala. The VENs and a related cell population, the fork cells, selectively express the bombesin peptides neuromedin B (NMB) and gastrin releasing pepide, which signal satiety. The loss of VENs and fork cells may be related to the loss of satiety signaling in patients with frontotemporal dementia who have damage to FI. These cells may be morphological specializations of an ancient population of neurons involved in the control of appetite present in the insular cortex in all mammals. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 23:5-21, 2011.

Resting state functional connectivity of five neural networks in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

“…Functional disconnection within regions corresponding to the CO network in schizophrenia has also been reported during task-based fMRI (White et al, 2010; Tu et al, 2010). The CO network is of particular interest, as its two hubs—the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the anterior insula are unique in containing large numbers of von Economo neurons, which are spindle-shaped bipolar projection neurons in layer V of the cortex found only in humans and great apes (Allman et al, 2011a,b; Fajardo et al, 2008). This suggests a more recent evolution of the CO network associated with higher-level cognitive or emotional processing.…”

Frontolimbic atrophy is associated with agitation and aggression in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

“…Von Economo neurons are long, thin bipolar neurons that are larger than pyramidal neurons. They are implicated in mediating fast neurotransmission to support rapid, intuitive decision making and adjustment of behaviors, and thereby appear to subserve behavioral regulation in social contexts [46,47]. They are especially common in layer V of anterior cingulate and right frontoinsular cortices, as well as in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [48].…”

Resting state functional connectivity in addiction: Lessons learned and a road ahead

“…By assessing the temporal dynamics and directional interactions between specific nodes of the SN, DMN and ECN, Sridharan and colleagues (2008) identified the insula as a causal outflow hub mediating dynamic switching between DMN and ECN activity as dictated by task-events and also occurring intrinsically “at rest” 3. They further postulated that such network switching is facilitated by a set of specialized spindle neurons (Allman et al, 2011), found exclusively, and in high quantities, within the human anterior insula and dorsal ACC underlying fast, adaptive switching of the prevailing dominant network state. More recently, the same research group has shown that insula’s causal influence on DMN and ECN nodes matures over the course of normal development, as does the underlying structural connectivity between such regions (Uddin et al, 2011).…”