Sensory and emotional processing in the human insula

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The insula is one of the least understood areas of the brain mostly due to its location: in the depth of the Sylvian fissure, which makes it less accessible and less susceptible to isolated injury than other cortical structures. Long solely viewed as a primitive ‘visceral brain’ structure, the insular cortex has gained much interest in the last decades with the advent of functional neuroimaging techniques, which have revealed insular responses to a wide variety of stimuli and paradigms. Functional domains that have been related to the insula include multisensory and pain processing, emotional experience, empathy and social cognition, motivation, and decision-making. However, the specific role of the insula in these functions remains uncertain. In the past 10 years, my team has contributed to the recognition of the insular cortex as a possible focus of epileptic seizures, and insular resections have been performed at our epilepsy centre in more than 30 patients with refractory epilepsy. We also perform direct exploration of the insula on a regular basis using intracranial electrodes to better delineate the epileptogenic zone when non-invasive techniques cannot, making it possible to study insular activity in response to various types of stimuli and tasks with very high temporal and spatial resolution. Access to this population provides us with an unprecedented opportunity to study the functions of the insular cortex in humans. The intent of this proposal is to provide a better understanding of the role of the human insula in sensory and emotional processing, using a combination of behavioral, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging techniques in patients with isolated insular injury as well as in healthy participants. Improving our comprehension of a brain area which has long been neglected is a fundamental issue belonging to the natural sciences. This program is focused on a single structure, the insula, which is involved in a variety of functions. By focusing on one of the least studied areas of the cerebral cortex, using the most state-of-the-art behavioral, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging techniques, this program has the potential to have a major impact on our understanding of brain function. Previous work by my group has already led to significant discoveries and expanded knowledge on the functions of the insula. The Discovery Grants from the NSERC would provide the funds necessary to take this research to a next level.