Maximum probability map of seven newly discovered areas of the human insula. Credit: HBP
Key Points:
- A team has identified new areas of the human insular cortex, a region of the brain that is involved in a wide variety of functions.
- They created probability maps that could be linked to neuroimaging studies addressing different cognitive tasks.
- The maps are openly accessible to support future studies addressing relations between structure and function in the human insula.
Researchers with the Human Brain Project (HBP) have identified seven new areas of the human insular cortex, a region of the brain that is involved in a wide variety of functions, including self-awareness, cognition, motor control, sensory and emotional processing.
The team, which included researchers from the University of Düsseldorf and Forschungszentrum Jülich, analyzed images of the middle posterior and dorsal anterior insula of 10 human brains and used statistical mapping to calculate 3D-probability maps of seven new areas. The probability maps reflect the interindividual variability and localization of the areas in a 3D space.
According to the study, published in NeuroImage, the team found that the microstructure of the insula has an incredible diversity and a broad range of cytoarchitectonic features, which might be the basis for the complex functional organization in this brain region. Brain areas with differences in their cytoarchitecture—or the organization of their cellular composition—likely differ in function.
A cluster analysis based on cytoarchitecture resulted in the identification of three superordinate microstructural clusters in the insular cortex. The clusters revealed significant differences in the microstructure of the anterior and posterior insula, reflecting systematic functional differences between both entities.
All newly detected areas are now available as 3D probability maps in the Julich Brain Atlas, and can be openly accessed via the HBP’s EBRAINS infrastructure.
Information provided by HBP.