Co-localization and neuromodulation of interoceptive and emotional processes in the insular cortex

01/01/2020 to 31/12/2023

This collaborative project aims at examining the structural and functional organization of the brain pathways that interface bodily states (interoception) with brain states underlying affect and cognition. This project uses a combination of architectonics, tracing, fMRI, electrophysiological and optogenetics approaches in non-human primates, with the experimental work with animals being conducted in Leuven, and with a large part of the functional data analyses and all neuroanatomical analyses being performed in Tübingen. More specifically, the project will use perturbations in order examine the causal involvement of the insula in integrating interoception with visual emotional stimuli. This is crucial because interoception has been proposed to provide the basis for the emergence of subjective emotional feelings in humans, with the insular cortex playing a major role in human fMRI and lesion mapping studies. This work will provide fundamental information on the neurobiological substrate underlying ‘body-mind’ interactions, with clear implications for our understanding of psychosomatic or gut- brain axis disorders.