Insular cortex

Our ability to develop, learn, and adapt depends on the brain’s capacity to change over time. To analyze plasticity processes over time in individual animals, we introduced a novel technique that enables immediate-early gene (IEG) activity to be mapped noninvasively using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Using this method, called IEG BLUsH, we interrogated the spatiotemporal relationships between neural activity and plasticity gene induction in an opioid administration paradigm. IEG activity and functional MRI (fMRI) signals were recorded following fentanyl treatments lasting several days (Fi

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics, which are sudden, rapid, recurrent, non-rhythmic movements. The TS is also accompanied by cognitive and emotional dysfunctions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Dysfunction of the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits has been suggested to induce these symptoms in TS patients, but the details of neuronal mechanisms underlying tic disorders remain unknown. In this study, we generated drug-induced tic model mice by unilateral local

Being able to plan and select appropriate behavior to estimate the effects of an action is likely to have, is central to acting intentionally. Consequently, the establishment of so-called action-effect bindings has been deemed fundamental for enabling goal-directed behavior. Yet, the neurophysiological foundations of this ability are still largely enigmatic. In this electrophysiological study with N=31 healthy individuals, we focused on theta band activity. We examined how information between functional neuroanatomical structures is exchanged to enable action-effect response specification proc

…immunengrams, specifically in the insular cortex, were sufficient to re-create the original inflammatory state. These findings have major implications for our understanding of how the brain can induce disease based on a mental (sensory or cognitive) trigger. However, critical to our understanding of

Drug addiction is characterized by long-lasting risk of relapse even after long abstinence periods. Historically, addiction research mainly focused on males, generalizing the findings to females. However, clinical and preclinical studies revealed sex differences in cocaine relapse. Indeed, our previous study revealed a higher cue-induced cocaine seeking in female than male rats, an effect dependent on the hormonal cycle. Females were more vulnerable to cue-induced cocaine seeking during the estrus phase characterized by low progesterone levels, compared to females in non-estrus phase with high

Psychological and somatic sickness symptoms are common adverse side effects of immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Due to the unpleasantness of these symptoms, many patients develop negative treatment expectations during the course of therapy and often show anticipatory behavioral and physiological responses upon re-exposure to treatment-related cues. Despite broad clinical implications, the underlying molecular and neurobiological mechanisms of sickness-induced negative treatment expectations and their physiological consequences are largely unknown and difficult to study in humans. This calls for

Interoception, the process through which afferent information reaches the brain to report the body's physiological state, is a critical element in adapting responses to potential threats. Cardiac interoceptive information has been shown to play a crucial role in these adaptive defensive processes. Neuronal circuits within the periaqueductal grey (PAG) play a pivotal role in controlling heart function, yet it remains unknown how PAG circuits process interoceptive signals as part of a defensive reaction to threats. Employing trans-synaptic retrograde tracing, we demonstrate that glycinergic neur

…The insular cortex (IC), a crucial brain region involved in multisensory and emotional processing, consists of two distinct subregions: the anterior IC (aIC), responsible for processing emotional and social signals, and the pos

In most animals including in humans, emotions occur together with changes in the body, such as variations in breathing or heart rate, sweaty palms, or facial expressions. It has been suggested that this interoceptive information acts as a feedback signal to the brain, enabling adaptive modulation of emotions that is essential for survival. As such, fear, one of our basic emotions, must be kept in a functional balance to minimize risk-taking while allowing for the pursuit of essential needs. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this adaptive modulation of fear remain poorly understood. In

We trained five rats to perform a complex auditory-guided task in a large environment (diameter 160 cm) with twelve nose-poke ports. To obtain rewards, rats had to position themselves at specific locations indicated by sounds. Despite the nontrivial task, rats reached high success rates within two 70-minute sessions. We modeled the task as a Markov Decision Process. Observed rat trajectories resembled the model's optimal policies. However, while optimal policies were deterministic, observed behavior was non-deterministic. We introduced non-deterministic, information-limited policies that reali

…The right insular cortex is a critical component of a salience/midcingulo-insular network that is thought to mediate interactions between brain networks involved in externally oriented (central executive/lateral frontoparietal network) and internally oriented (default mode/medial frontoparietal network) processes. How these brain systems reconfigure with development is a critical question for cognitive neuroscience, with implications for neurodev

…While human insular cortex (InsCtx) is implicated in interoception, the cellular and circuit mechanisms remain unclear. I will describe our recent work imaging mouse InsCtx neurons during two physiological deficiency states – hunger and thirst. InsCtx ongoing activity patterns reliably tracked the gradual return to homeostasis, but not changes in behavior. Accordingly, while artificial induction of hunger/thirst in sated mice via activation of specific hypothalamic neurons

…Human neuroimaging studies suggest insular cortex plays a central role in interoception, yet the cellular and circuit mechanisms of its involvement remain unclear. We developed a microprism-based cellular imaging approach to monitor insular cortex activity in behaving mice across different physiological need states. We combine this imaging approach with manipulations of peripheral physiology, circuit-mapping, cell type-specific and circuit-specific manipulation approaches t