Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022 Aug;139:104736. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104736. Epub 2022 Jun 11.
Executive control is a complex high-level cognitive function that relies on distributed brain circuitry. We propose that the anterior insular cortex plays an under-appreciated role in executive processes, acting as a gatekeeper to other brain regions and networks by virtue of primacy of action and effective connectivity. The flexible functional profile of the anterior insular subdivision renders it a key hub within the broader midcingulo-insular 'salience network', allowing it to orchestrate and drive activity of other major functional brain networks including the medial frontoparietal 'default mode network' and lateral frontoparietal 'central executive network'. The microanatomy and large-scale connectivity of the insular cortex positions it to play a critical role in triaging and integrating internal and external multisensory stimuli in the service of initiating higher-order control functions. Multiple lines of evidence scaffold the novel hypothesis that, as a key hub for integration and a lever of network switching, the anterior insula serves as a critical gatekeeper to executive control.
执行控制是一种依赖于分布式大脑回路的复杂高级认知功能。我们提出，前脑岛在执行过程中起着被低估的作用，通过行为的首要性和有效的连通性，充当其他大脑区域和网络的守门员。前脑岛细分的灵活功能特征使其成为更广泛的中扣带-脑岛“突显网络”中的关键枢纽，允许它协调和驱动其他主要功能大脑网络的活动，包括内侧额顶叶“默认模式网络”和外侧额顶叶“中央执行网络”。脑岛的微观解剖结构和大规模连通性使其在为启动更高阶控制功能而对内部和外部多感觉刺激进行分类和整合方面发挥关键作用。多条证据支持了一个新颖的假设，即作为整合的关键枢纽和网络切换的杠杆，前脑岛作为执行控制的关键守门员。
