Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Washington University, 4525 Scott Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Brain Struct Funct. 2010 Jun;214(5-6):669-80. doi: 10.1007/s00429-010-0260-2. Epub 2010 May 29.
In humans, the anterior insula (aI) has been the topic of considerable research and ascribed a vast number of functional properties by way of neuroimaging and lesion studies. Here, we argue that the aI, at least in part, plays a role in domain-general attentional control and highlight studies (Dosenbach et al. 2006; Dosenbach et al. 2007) supporting this view. Additionally, we discuss a study (Ploran et al. 2007) that implicates aI in processes related to the capture of focal attention. Task-level control and focal attention may or may not reflect information processing supported by a single functional area (within the aI). Therefore, we apply a novel technique (Cohen et al. 2008) that utilizes resting state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) to determine whether separable regions exist within the aI. rs-fcMRI mapping suggests that the ventral portion of the aI is distinguishable from more dorsal/anterior regions, which are themselves distinct from more posterior parts of the aI. When these regions are applied to functional MRI (fMRI) data, the ventral and dorsal/anterior regions support processes potentially related to both task-level control and focal attention, whereas the more posterior aI regions did not. These findings suggest that there exists some functional heterogeneity within aI that may subserve related but distinct types of higher-order cognitive processing.
在人类中，前脑岛（aI）一直是相当多研究的主题，并通过神经影像学和损伤研究赋予了大量的功能属性。在这里，我们认为，aI 至少在一定程度上在一般领域的注意力控制中发挥作用，并强调支持这一观点的研究（Dosenbach 等人，2006 年；Dosenbach 等人，2007 年）。此外，我们还讨论了一项研究（Ploran 等人，2007 年），该研究表明 aI 参与了与焦点注意力捕获相关的过程。任务级控制和焦点注意力可能反映或不反映由单个功能区域（在 aI 内）支持的信息处理。因此，我们应用了一种新的技术（Cohen 等人，2008 年），该技术利用静息状态功能连接磁共振成像（rs-fcMRI）来确定 aI 内是否存在可分离的区域。rs-fcMRI 映射表明，aI 的腹侧部分与更背侧/前侧区域可区分，而这些区域本身与 aI 的更后侧部分可区分。当将这些区域应用于功能磁共振成像（fMRI）数据时，腹侧和背侧/前侧区域支持与任务级控制和焦点注意力都相关的过程，而 aI 的更后侧区域则没有。这些发现表明，aI 中存在一定的功能异质性，可能支持相关但不同类型的高级认知处理。
