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Thermosensory activation of insular cortex

Nature Neuroscience volume 3, pages 184–190 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Temperature sensation is regarded as a submodality of touch, but evidence suggests involvement of insular cortex rather than parietal somatosensory cortices. Using positron emission tomography (PET), we found contralateral activity correlated with graded cooling stimuli only in the dorsal margin of the middle/posterior insula in humans. This corresponds to the thermoreceptive- and nociceptive-specific lamina I spinothalamocortical pathway in monkeys, and can be considered an enteroceptive area within limbic sensory cortex. Because lesions at this site can produce the post-stroke central pain syndrome, this finding supports the proposal that central pain results from loss of the normal inhibition of pain by cold. Notably, perceived thermal intensity was well correlated with activation in the right (ipsilateral) anterior insular and orbitofrontal cortices.

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Figure 1: Regression plots.
Figure 2: Comparison of the statistical maps of rCBF activation for three different analyses at 12 of the 18 axial levels examined.
Figure 3
Figure 4: Localization of thermosensory cortex in the dorsal margin of left (contralateral) insular cortex (coordinates=−36, −22, 24), identified by regression analysis of rCBF activation with stimulus temperature, in frontal, axial and sagittal views.
Figure 5: Localization of the evaluative regions in right anterior insular and orbitofrontal cortices, identified by regression analysis of rCBF activation with subjects' ratings, in frontal, axial and sagittal views.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Goodwin, J. Frost and D. Andrew for technical assistance. This study was supported by the Robert S. Flinn Foundation and the Atkinson Pain Research Fund administered by the Barrow Neurological Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neurosurgery, Barrow Neurological Institute, 350 West Thomas Rd., Phoenix, 85013, Arizona, USA

    A. D. Craig

  2. Positron Emission Tomography Center, Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, Phoenix, 85006, Arizona, USA

    K. Chen, D. Bandy & E. M. Reiman

  3. Department of Mathematics, Arizona State University, Tempe, 85280, Arizona, USA

    K. Chen

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Arizona, Tucson, 85721, Arizona, USA

    E. M. Reiman

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Correspondence to A. D. Craig.

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Craig, A., Chen, K., Bandy, D. et al. Thermosensory activation of insular cortex. Nat Neurosci 3, 184–190 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/72131

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