Insula — Function, Location & Quiz

The insula is a cortical island hidden beneath the lips of the lateral sulcus, which is why it disappears from ordinary surface diagrams. It integrates signals from inside the body with emotion and salience, helping a heartbeat, pain or visceral reaction become a felt state.

Its role is broader than taste, another common shorthand. Disgust, empathy, autonomic regulation and addiction all recruit insular systems, and damage can change both bodily awareness and the motivational force of an urge.

Test this anatomy in the Brain Networks Quiz or open the interactive 3D brain model.

Location and anatomical map

Interoception, disgust, empathy, self-awareness, pain.

Atlas category: cortical. Brodmann areas or landmark: BA 13, 14, 16 (insular cortex).

Functions

  • Interoception — awareness of internal body states (heartbeat, hunger, pain)
  • Disgust perception (taste and moral disgust)
  • Empathy and emotional awareness
  • Autonomic nervous system regulation
  • Subjective feeling states and self-awareness

Pathways and connections

  • Anterior insula ↔ ACC (salience network)
  • Insula ← Thalamus (visceral afferents)
  • Insula ↔ Amygdala (emotional integration)

Clinical relevance

  • Lesion → loss of disgust recognition (and impaired empathy)
  • Craig's theory: anterior insula creates 'the feeling of being alive'
  • Stroke in insular cortex → emotional flatness, autonomic dysregulation
  • Addiction: insula damage can lead to sudden loss of urge to smoke

Key facts

  • Contains Von Economo neurons (spindle cells) — shared only with ACC, great apes, whales
  • Hub of the salience network — determines what's important right now
  • Critchley: anterior insula activation correlates with interoceptive accuracy
  • Right anterior insula active when you notice your own heartbeat

Exam tip

Insula = interoception + disgust + salience. It's hidden deep in the lateral sulcus — the 'island of Reil.'

Common questions

What does the insula do?

It supports interoception, disgust, emotional awareness, empathy, autonomic regulation and detection of salient events.

Where is the insula located?

It is buried deep within the lateral sulcus beneath parts of the frontal, parietal and temporal lobes, which cover it from an external view.

Which brain network includes the insula?

The anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate are core hubs of the salience network, which helps prioritize important internal and external signals.