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Insular cerebral claustro‐cortex adheres to the putamen ‐‐ why?
Author(s) -
Johnson John Irwin,
Morris John A.,
Lundrigan Barbara L,
Switzer Robert C,
Fobbs Archibald J.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a596-c
Subject(s) - claustrum , insular cortex , neuroscience , cortex (anatomy) , putamen , cerebral cortex , sulcus , perirhinal cortex , biology , temporal cortex , superior temporal sulcus , anatomy , insula , perception , psychology , temporal lobe , epilepsy , nucleus
Survey of a wide variety of mammalian brains, representing the major branches of their evolutionary radiation, showed that all have a region of cerebral isocortex, bordering the caudal olfactory allocortex, that is closely approximated to the lateral part of the putamen. A claustrum lies between putamen and cortex. In gyrencephalic brains a lateral or Sylvian sulcus is found here. In larger brains, at the fundus of this sulcus, is an insula or island of buried cortex, under frontal and temporal lobes. These lobes are formed by folding of neighboring regions around the claustrocortex. The extent and diversity of our sample suggests that this is a universal feature of mammalian brains. We identify 4 hypotheses to account for this feature: there could be a paucity of subcortical input to the insular cortex, function of the cortico‐claustro‐striatal circuits requires close spatial interconnection, some aspect of connectivity with olfactory cortex prevents outfolding of insular cortex, claustro‐cortical migrations and connections are completed prior to the migration of cells into the neighboring cortical regions. The role of insular cortex in perception of states and events in visceral structures, including a perception of selfhood, supports hypothesis 4, although the four are not mutually exclusive. Support: NSF Grants IBN 0131267, 0131826, and 0131028.