The Insular Cortex

By Hagar & Mikaela

Location

– Cerebral Hemisphere– Connected with the primary/secondar

somatosensory areas amygdale , prefrontal cortec, etc.

Functions

• Bodily Awareness• Risky Decision Making• Taste-Processing Gustatory Process

Disfuntional Insular Cortex– Hard time evaluating pain, and processing it.– Plays a positive role in addiction.

Study 1: Sacktor, Weizmann Institute of Science (Rehovot, Israel)

• Aim: To determine result of blocking an enzyme that strengthens the neuron connections, creating long-term memory.

• Result: Memories erased by injecting the inhibitor into the insular cortex (taste-processing gustatory process).

Study 2: Dr. Urbanik

Aim: To examine whether men and women respond differently to anger.

Results: Men’s insular cortex is more activated than women’s, which creates a physical reaction of ‘fight or flight’ rather than an emotional.

Study 3: Nasir Naqvi, University of Iowa

– Aim: To see whether head injury that leads to dysfunction of the Insular Cortex will have an effect on drug addiction.

– Results: Cigarette smokers for example who suffer from damage of the Insular Cortex due to a stroke had their addiction to cigarettes almost eliminated. Up to 136 more likely to stop smoking then smokers who suffer damage to another part of the brain.

– Make this area of the brain a promising target for anti-addiction medications.

Works CitedSimon, Moss Dr. “Insular Cortex.” Psychlopedia. Web. 3 Nov 2009. <http://www.psych-

it.com.au/Psychlopedia/article.asp?id=341>Swaminathan, Nikhil. “’Continuous Motor’ Underlies Long-Term Memory Storage.”

Scientific American. 17 Aug 2007. Web. 2010. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=continuous-motor-underlies-memory>

Podsiadlo, Lilianna. “Men and Women May Respond Differently to Danger.” ScienceDaily. 30 Nov 2009. Web. 2009. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091129125131.htm>

Craig, A. D. “Mapping Pain in the Brain.” The Welcome Trust. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. <http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/ en/ pain/ microsite/ science2.html>

“Damage to the Insula Disrupts Addiction to Cigarette Smoking .” Science Mag. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. <http://www.sciencemag.org/ cgi/ content/ abstract/ 315/ 5811/ 531>

“Insular cortex.” Absolute Astronomy. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. <http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/ topics/ Insular_cortex>

Nagai, K, K Kishi, and S Kato. “Insular cortex and neuropsychiatric disorders.” PubMed U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/ 17416488>