Sensory and emotional processing in the human insula

脑岛是大脑中最不为人所知的区域之一，主要是因为它的位置：在侧裂的深处，这使得它比其他皮质结构更难接触到，也更不容易受到孤立的损伤。长期以来，岛叶皮质一直被认为是一种原始的“内脏脑”结构，在过去的几十年里，随着功能神经成像技术的出现，岛叶皮质引起了人们的极大兴趣，这些技术揭示了岛叶对各种刺激和范式的反应。与脑岛相关的功能领域包括多感觉和疼痛处理、情感体验、同理心和社会认知、动机和决策。然而，半岛在这些功能中的具体作用仍然不确定。在过去的10年里，我的团队为认识到岛叶皮质可能是癫痫发作的焦点做出了贡献，我们的癫痫中心已经为30多名难治性癫痫患者进行了岛叶切除手术。我们还定期使用颅内电极对脑岛进行直接探查，以便在非侵入性技术无法的情况下更好地描绘致痫区域，从而能够以非常高的时间和空间分辨率研究岛叶活动对各种类型的刺激和任务的响应。接触这一人群为我们提供了一个前所未有的机会来研究人类岛叶皮质的功能。这项建议的目的是通过在孤立性岛叶损伤患者和健康受试者中使用行为、电生理和神经成像技术的组合，更好地了解人类岛叶在感觉和情绪处理中的作用。提高我们对长期被忽视的大脑区域的理解是自然科学的一个基本问题。这一计划侧重于单一的结构，即参与各种功能的岛状结构。通过关注大脑皮层研究最少的区域之一，使用最先进的行为、电生理和神经成像技术，该项目有可能对我们对大脑功能的理解产生重大影响。我的团队之前的工作已经导致了对该岛功能的重大发现和扩大了解。NSERC的发现拨款将提供必要的资金，将这项研究提升到一个新的水平。

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.**