The Insular Cortex

Insular

Cortex

Also Referred to As...

●Insular Lobe●Central Lobe●Insular Gyrus●Insular

Region●Lobus

insularis

LocationIt is part of the cerebral cortex and is found deep in

the groove that separates the frontal lobe from the temporal lobe.

Adjacent to the Thalamus (receives all sensory input data).

The proximity of the insular cortex to the thalamus is important because the insular cortex is what processes information related to sensation.

Divided into two parts: the larger anterior insula and the smaller posterior insula

Functions of the Insular

Cortex

Risky Decision Making: It is involved in decision making, especially in decisions with uncertain outcomes.

Moral Decision Making: When individuals must decide between two alternatives, the insular cortex is involved.

Anxiety and Neuroticism: Insular activation may be elevated in some individuals. The elevated action may coincide with neuroticism and other anxiety orders. It is shown that insular activation is associated with a person's sensitivity to punishment and adversity.

Bodily Awareness: It is involved in the awareness of bodily states which modulates physiological responses. The insula is involved in the awareness and sensation of pain. When one imagines pain in their body, the insula is activated. Warmth and stomach distension also activate the insula. A full bladder also activates the insula.

Motor Control: The Insular Cortex is involved in bodily sensations like eye movement, swallowing, the cardiac system, and speech. The insular cortex is necessary for people to articulate long and complex sentences.

Triggers Disgust: The organ becomes activated when you smell, taste, see, or touch rotten food. When the insula recognizes these signals it sends signals to the hypothalamus which then sets off a bodily rejection cycle...which makes you want to throw up

Empathy: The insular cortex becomes active when you experience bodily sensation or when you are viewing such bodily experiences in other people. This is why when you look at an image of a painful event, you feel sensations of pain as if you were the one who experienced the sensations. The insula also responds to others joyful experiences.

Study Involving the Insular

Cortex

Because the sensations that are experienced by the insular cortex influence social decisions...a study was performed to see what factors affect the decisions people make

Lawrence Williams gathered a group of volunteers and had them rate an individual only from a brief and personal description

The volunteers were told to hold either a warm or cold cup of coffee before giving their ratings

The subjects holding the warm coffee tended to rate the individuals as having warmer personalities than the subjects holding the cold cups of coffee

A similar experiment was conducted where subjects held either warming pads or cooling pads

The subjects holding the warming pads acted in much more generous ways than the subjects holding the cooling pads

Another experiment known as “seat of the pants” shows that people who are sitting in soft seats tend to be more cooperative than people sitting in hard seats.

The wide range of physical signals trigger your insular cortex and affect the decisions you make.

What Happens When the

Insular Cortex is

Dysfunctional?

Mood DisordersPTSDObsessive Compulsive DisordersEating DisordersSchizophreniaPanic Disorders