The insula, a grey matter of tastes: a volumetric MRI study in dementia with Lewy bodies.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Despite the growing number of discoveries during the past decades about its functions, the insula remains a mysterious 'island'. In addition to its involvement in basic functions such as gustation and interoception, the insular cortex is now considered a key region for integrated functions such as emotion/motivation processing, decision-making and self-consciousness. We hypothesized that this structure, standing at the crossroads of such functions, could ground personal tastes in general, beyond food preferences and aesthetic judgements. Given that dementia with Lewy bodies is characterized by a focal atrophy within the insular cortex from the early stages, this condition provides an opportunity to test such a hypothesis.

Methods

We developed a questionnaire to as

SUBMITTER: Philippi N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7336457 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature