Author: A D Craig1
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Atkinson Pain Research Laboratory, Division of Neurosurgery, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ 85013, USA. bcraig@chw.edu
Conference/Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
Date published: 2003 Aug 1
Other:
Volume ID: 13 , Issue ID: 4 , Pages: 500-5 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/s0959-4388(03)00090-4. , Word Count: 130
Converging evidence indicates that primates have a distinct cortical image of homeostatic afferent activity that reflects all aspects of the physiological condition of all tissues of the body. This interoceptive system, associated with autonomic motor control, is distinct from the exteroceptive system (cutaneous mechanoreception and proprioception) that guides somatic motor activity. The primary interoceptive representation in the dorsal posterior insula engenders distinct highly resolved feelings from the body that include pain, temperature, itch, sensual touch, muscular and visceral sensations, vasomotor activity, hunger, thirst, and 'air hunger'. In humans, a meta-representation of the primary interoceptive activity is engendered in the right anterior insula, which seems to provide the basis for the subjective image of the material self as a feeling (sentient) entity, that is, emotional awareness.
PMID: 12965300 DOI: 10.1016/s0959-4388(03)00090-4