Convergence of interoception, emotion, and social cognition: A twofold fMRI meta-analysis and lesion approach

Author: Federico Adolfi1, Blas Couto2, Fabian Richter,3 Jean Decety4, Jessica Lopez5, Mariano Sigman6, Facundo Manes7, Agustín Ibáñez8
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Translational and Cognitive Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Facultad de Artes y Ciencias Musicales (FAyCM), Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA), Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina. <sup>2</sup> Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Translational and Cognitive Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina. <sup>3</sup> Universität zu Köln, Department of Psychology, Cologne, Germany. <sup>4</sup> University of Chicago, Department of Psychology, Chicago, IL, USA. <sup>5</sup> Universidad Santiago de Cali, Facultad de Salud, Cali, Colombia. <sup>6</sup> Universidad Torcuato DiTella, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina. <sup>7</sup> Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Translational and Cognitive Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ACR), Sydney, Australia. <sup>8</sup> Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Translational and Cognitive Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia; Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ACR), Sydney, Australia; Laboratory of Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Santiago de Chile, Chile. Electronic address: aibanez@ineco.org.ar.
Conference/Journal: Cortex
Date published: 2017 Mar
Other: Volume ID: 88 , Pages: 124-142 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.12.019. , Word Count: 145


Guided by indirect evidence, recent approaches propose a tripartite crosstalk among interoceptive signaling, emotional regulation, and low-level social cognition. Here we examined the neurocognitive convergence of such domains. First, we performed three meta-analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies to identify which areas are consistently coactivated by these three systems. Multi-level Kernel Density Analysis (MKDA) revealed major overlaps in the right anterior insular and frontotemporal regions (viz., the orbitofrontal and inferior frontal gyri, the amygdala, and mid temporal lobe/subcortical structures). Second, we explored such domains in patients with fronto-insulo-temporal damage. Relative to controls, the patients showed behavioral impairments of interoception, emotional processing, and social cognition, with preservation of other cognitive functions. Convergent results from both studies offer direct support for a model of insular-frontotemporal regions integrating interoception, emotion, and social cognition.

KEYWORDS: Frontotemporal networks; Insula; Multi-level Kernel Density Analysis; Stroke.

PMID: 28088652 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.12.019