Disentangling interoception : insights from focal strokes affecting the perception of external and internal milieus

Interoception is the moment-to-moment sensing of the physiological condition of the body. The multimodal sources of interoception can be classified into two different streams of afferents: an internal pathway of signals arising from core structures (i.e., heart, blood vessels, and bronchi) and an external pathway of body-mapped sensations (i.e., chemosensation and pain) arising from peripersonal space. This study examines differential processing along these streams within the insular cortex (IC) and their subcortical tracts connecting frontotemporal networks. Two rare patients presenting focal lesions of the IC (insular lesion, IL) or its subcortical tracts (subcortical lesion, SL) were tested. Internally generated interoceptive streams were assessed through a heartbeat detection (HBD) task, while those externally triggered were tapped via taste, smell, and pain recognition tasks. A differential pattern was observed. The IC patient showed impaired internal signal processing while the SL patient exhibited external perception deficits. Such selective deficits remained even when comparing each patient with a group of healthy controls and a group of brain-damaged patients. These outcomes suggest the existence of distinguishable interoceptive streams. Results are discussed in relation with neuroanatomical substrates, involving a fronto-insulo-temporal network for interoceptive and cognitive contextual integration.Fil: Couto, Blas. Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive Neurology, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina. UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience, Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile. National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Buenos Aires, Argentin

Aportes neurocientíficos sobre interocepción cardíaca, emociones y redes insulares

El estudio de la Ínsula de Reil, ha cobrado un reciente interés por la que fuera un área cerebral poco mencionada en la neurociencia cognitiva moderna. Sucesivas revisiones de trabajos de campos diversos como estudios clínicos, modelos experimentales, y neuroimágenes, han revelado la participación de la ínsula en múltiples tareas cognitivas, afectivas y perceptuales. Un posible marco teórico integrador de estos variados procesos, es la interocepción o censado del estado homeostático y visceral. El procesamiento insular y su comunicación a áreas homólogas motrices como la corteza cingulada anterior (CCA), desencadenaría y regularía comportamientos que entrañan un contenido afectivo-emocional esencial para el mantenimiento de la consciencia corporal a nivel individual. En este artículo, se analiza evidencia que involucra a la interocepción y al procesamiento insular integrativo en el surgimiento de estados emocionales conscientes haciendo especial énfasis en el papel de los estudios de lesiones y el uso de técnicas de conectividad funcional en resonancia magnética funcional (RMf). Además, se revisa la conceptualización de la interocepción cardíaca, su estudio a través de la evaluación de pacientes con patología cerebral vascular isquémica y patología cardíaca en el marco de los de las interacciones corazón-cerebro, nuevo campo de estudio de las neurociencias.The insula of Reil has recently became an interesting research topic, in despite of its few mention in modern cognitive neuroscience. Several studies in different areas like clinical reports, experimental models and neuroimaging have revealed the role of the insula in cognitive, emotional and visceral perception tasks. In this article, we revise different studies in patients with stroke and cardiac disease regarding cardiac interoception. Particularly, it has been suggested that the insular processing through its connections with the anterior cingulate cortex is required for the representation of the visceral state of the body and critical for the emerging of emotional awareness. Furthermore, evidence from different methodologies such as lesion studies and functional connectivity analysis of magnetic resonance imaging support those hypotheses. We conclude that the understanding of this new field of research in neuroscience, the heart-brain relationships, would highly benefit from the study of insular integration and the arise of conscious emotional states while make emphasis on the convergent use of lesion and functional neuroimaging approaches as a powerful research strategy.Fil: García Cordero, Indira. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicología Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Couto, Juan Blas Marcos. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicología Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ibanez Barassi, Agustín Mariano. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicología Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Diego Portales; Chil

Detaching from the negative by reappraisal: the role of right superior frontal gyrus (BA9/32)

The ability to reappraise the emotional impact of events is related to long-term mental health. Self-focused reappraisal (REAPPself), i.e., reducing the personal relevance of the negative events, has been previously associated with neural activity in regions near right medial prefrontal cortex, but rarely investigated among brain-damaged individuals. Thus, we aimed to examine the REAPPself ability of brain-damaged patients and healthy controls considering structural atrophies and gray matter intensities, respectively. Twenty patients with well-defined cortex lesions due to an acquired circumscribed tumor or cyst and 23 healthy controls performed a REAPPself task, in which they had to either observe negative stimuli or decrease emotional responding by REAPPself. Next, they rated the impact of negative arousal and valence. REAPPself ability scores were calculated by subtracting the negative picture ratings after applying REAPPself from the ratings of the observing condition. The scores of the patients were included in a voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) analysis to identify deficit related areas (ROI). Then, a ROI group-wise comparison was performed. Additionally, a whole-brain voxel-based-morphometry (VBM) analysis was run, in which healthy participant's REAPPself ability scores were correlated with gray matter intensities. Results showed that (1) regions in the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), comprising the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA9) and the right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (BA32), were associated with patient's impaired down-regulation of arousal, (2) a lesion in the depicted ROI occasioned significant REAPPself impairments, (3) REAPPself ability of controls was linked with increased gray matter intensities in the ROI regions. Our findings show for the first time that the neural integrity and the structural volume of right SFG regions (BA9/32) might be indispensable for REAPPself. Implications for neurofeedback research are discussed.Fil: Falquez, Rosalux. University of Heidelberg; AlemaniaFil: Couto, Juan Blas Marcos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Ibáñez Barassi, Agustín Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Freitag, Martin T.. German Cancer Research Center; AlemaniaFil: Berger, Moritz. German Cancer Research Center; AlemaniaFil: Arens, Elisabeth A.. University of Heidelberg; AlemaniaFil: Lang, Simone. University of Heidelberg; AlemaniaFil: Barnow, Sven. University of Heidelberg; Alemani

Interoception and insular cortex:multimodal convergence and the emergence of body awareness

Recent research have suggested that interoception, defined as the sensing of homeostatic and visceral state, is a prerequisite for the emerging of conscious body feelings (Craig, 2009). Parasympathetic and spinothalamic pathways coding such information from the body have their final station in insular cortex neurons. At the same time, several other cognitive functions related to awareness, have been associated with insular activation such as intentionality, decision making, sensory-motor consciousness, time perception, recognition of self´s image, or trust on someone else (Craig, 2009; Ibanez et al., 2010). Lesion studies and functional neuroimaging research is in line with this evidence, suggesting that anterior insular cortex would be engaged in integrate multimodal cognitive, emotional and social information in order to modulate motivational behavior leading to the survival of the individual. In this review, we analyze last research works on interoception and integrative insular processing through lesion studies and functional connectivity in functional magnetic resonance imaging (FC-fMRI).Fil: Couto, Juan Blas Marcos. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sedeño, Lucas. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Universidad Diego Portales; Chil

Interoception and insular cortex:multimodal convergence and the emergence of body awareness

Recent research have suggested that interoception, defined as the sensing of homeostatic and visceral state, is a prerequisite for the emerging of conscious body feelings (Craig, 2009). Parasympathetic and spinothalamic pathways coding such information from the body have their final station in insular cortex neurons. At the same time, several other cognitive functions related to awareness, have been associated with insular activation such as intentionality, decision making, sensory-motor consciousness, time perception, recognition of self´s image, or trust on someone else (Craig, 2009; Ibanez et al., 2010). Lesion studies and functional neuroimaging research is in line with this evidence, suggesting that anterior insular cortex would be engaged in integrate multimodal cognitive, emotional and social information in order to modulate motivational behavior leading to the survival of the individual. In this review, we analyze last research works on interoception and integrative insular processing through lesion studies and functional connectivity in functional magnetic resonance imaging (FC-fMRI).Fil: Couto, Juan Blas Marcos. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sedeño, Lucas. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Universidad Diego Portales; Chil

Preliminary evidence about the effects of meditation on interoceptive sensitivity and social cognition

Background: Interoception refers to the conscious perception of body signals. Mindfulness is a meditation practice that encourages individuals to focus on their internal experiences such as bodily sensations, thoughts, and emotions. In this study, we selected a behavioral measure of interoceptive sensitivity (heartbeat detection task, HBD) to compare the effect of meditation practice on interoceptive sensitivity among long term practitioners (LTP), short term meditators (STM, subjects that completed a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program) and controls (non-meditators). All participants were examined with a battery of different tasks including mood state, executive function and social cognition tests (emotion recognition, empathy and theory of mind). Findings: Compared to controls, both meditators’ groups showed lower levels of anxiety and depression, but no improvement in executive function or social cognition performance was observed (except for lower scores compared to controls only in the personal distress dimension of empathy). More importantly, meditators’ performance did not differ from that of nonmeditators regarding cardiac interoceptive sensitivity. Conclusion: Results suggest no influence of meditation practice in cardiac interoception and in most related social cognition measures. These negative results could be partially due to the fact that awareness of heartbeat sensations is not emphasized during mindfulness/vipassana meditation and may not be the best index of the awareness supported by the practice of meditation.Fil: Melloni, Margherita. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sedeño, Lucas. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Couto, Juan Blas Marcos. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Reynoso, Martín. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; ArgentinaFil: Gelormini Lezama, Carlos. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Favaloro, Roberto. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; ArgentinaFil: Canales Johnson, Andres. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Sigman, Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Neurociencia Integrativa; Argentina. Universidad Torcuato Di Tella; ArgentinaFil: Manes, Facundo Francisco. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ibanez Barassi, Agustin Mariano. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Comparing moral judgments of patients with frontotemporal dementia and frontal stroke

Importance Several clinical reports have stated that patients with prefrontal lesions or patients with the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia share social cognition impairments. Moral reasoning is impaired in both conditions but there have been few investigations that directly compare this domain in the 2 groups. Observations This work compared the moral judgments of these patient groups using a task designed to disentangle the contributions of intentions and outcomes in moral judgment. For both disorders, patients judged scenarios where the protagonists believed that they would cause harm but did not as being more permissible than the control group. Moreover, patients with frontotemporal dementia judged harmful outcomes in the absence of harmful intentions as less permissible than the control participants. There were no differences between the 2 conditions. Conclusions and Relevance Both disorders involved impairments in integrating intention and outcome information for moral judgment. This study was the first, to our knowledge, to directly compare a social cognition domain in 2 frontal pathologies with different etiology. Our results highlighted the importance of comparing patients with vascular lesions and patients with neurodegenerative diseases

Structural neuroimaging of social cognition in progressive non-fluent aphasia and behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia

Social cognition impairments are pervasive in the frontotemporal dementias (FTD). These deficits would be triggered by (a) basic emotion and face recognition processes as well as by (b) higher level social cognition (e.g., theory of mind, ToM). Both emotional processing and social cognition impairments have been previously reported in the behavioral variant of FTD (bvFTD) and also in other versions of FTDs, including primary progressive aphasia. However, no neuroanatomic comparison between different FTD variants has been performed. We report selective behavioral impairments of face recognition, emotion recognition, and ToM in patients with bvFTD and progressive non-fluent aphasia (PNFA) when compared to controls. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) shows a classical impairment of mainly orbitofrontal (OFC), anterior cingulate (ACC), insula and lateral temporal cortices in patients. Comparative analysis of regional gray matter related to social cognition deficits (VBM) reveals a differential pattern of fronto-insulo-temporal atrophy in bvFTD and an insulo-temporal involvement in PNFA group. Results suggest that in spite of similar social cognition impairments reported in bvFTD and PNFA, the former represents an inherent ToM affectation whereas in the PNFA these deficits could be related to more basic processes of face and emotion recognition. These results are interpreted in the frame of the fronto-insulo-temporal social context network model (SCNM).Fil: Couto, Juan Blas Marcos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Manes, Facundo Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Montañés, Patricia. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; ColombiaFil: Matallana, Diana. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; ColombiaFil: Reyes, Pablo. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; ColombiaFil: Velasquez, Marcela. Universidad Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Yoris Magnago, Adrián Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Báez Buitrago, Sandra Jimena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Ibáñez Barassi, Agustín Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Universidad Diego Portales; Chil

Tracking the cognitive, social, and neuroanatomical profile in early neurodegeneration: Type III Cockayne syndrome

Cockayne syndrome (CS) is an autosomal recessive disease associated with premature aging, progressive multiorgan degeneration, and nervous system abnormalities including cerebral and cerebellar atrophy, brain calcifications, and white matter abnormalities. Although several clinical descriptions of CS patients have reported developmental delay and cognitive impairment with relative preservation of social skills, no previous studies have carried out a comprehensive neuropsychological and social cognition assessment. Furthermore, no previous research in individuals with CS has examined the relationship between brain atrophy and performance on neuropsychological and social cognition tests. This study describes the case of an atypical late-onset type III CS patient who exceeds the mean life expectancy of individuals with this pathology. The patient and a group of healthy controls underwent a comprehensive assessment that included multiple neuropsychological and social cognition (emotion recognition, theory of mind, and empathy) tasks. In addition, we compared the pattern of atrophy in the patient to controls and to its concordance with ERCC8 gene expression in a healthy brain. The results showed memory, language, and executive deficits that contrast with the relative preservation of social cognition skills. The cognitive profile of the patient was consistent with his pattern of global cerebral and cerebellar loss of gray matter volume (frontal structures, bilateral cerebellum, basal ganglia, temporal lobe, and occipito-temporal/occipito-parietal regions), which in turn was anatomically consistent with the ERCC8 gene expression level in a healthy donor's brain. The study of exceptional cases, such as the one described here, is fundamental to elucidating the processes that affect the brain in premature aging diseases, and such studies provide an important source of information for understanding the problems associated with normal and pathological aging.Fil: Báez Buitrago, Sandra Jimena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Diego Portales; Chile. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires"; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Couto, Juan Blas Marcos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Herrera, Eduar. Universidad Autónoma del Caribe; ColombiaFil: Bocanegra, Yamile. Universidad de Antioquia; Colombia. Universidad de San Buenaventura; ColombiaFil: Trujillo Orrego, Natalia. Universidad de Antioquia; ColombiaFil: Madriga Zapata, Lucia. Universidad de Antioquia; ColombiaFil: Cardona Londoño, Juan Felipe. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Manes, Facundo Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Australian Government, Australian Research Council; Australia. Universidad Diego Portales; Chile. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Ibáñez Barassi, Agustín Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Diego Portales; Chile. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Villegas, Andres. Universidad de Antioquia; Colombi