Insular cortex processes aversive somatosensory information and is crucial for threat learning

Abstract

Fear behavior and the insular cortex Threat learning is important to avoid dangers in the environment. The amygdala is a brain structure involved in the formation of threat memories. How unconditioned stimulus information reaches the amygdala remains unclear. Berret et al. found that independent subpopulations of neurons in the insular cortex project either to the lateral or the central amygdala and drive threat learning and fear-associated responses, respectively. Neurons in the posterior insula adapted their response patterns to conditioned stimulus presentation during fear conditioning and maintained this pattern at retrieval. Multisensory integration in the insula thus contributes to the storage and retrieval of threat memories. Science , this issue p. eaaw0474