TY - JOUR
T1 - Insular atrophy and diminished disgust reactivity
AU - Verstaen, Alice
AU - Eckart, Janet A.
AU - Muhtadie, Luma
AU - Otero, Marcela C.
AU - Sturm, Virginia E.
AU - Haase, Claudia M.
AU - Miller, Bruce L.
AU - Levenson, Robert W.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a National Institute of Aging Grant 2P01AG019724-11 to Robert W. Levenson, a National Institute of Aging Grant 1R01AG041762-01A1 to Robert W. Levenson, a National Science Foundation Grant DGE 1106400 to Alice Verstaen, and a National Institute of Aging Grant K23AG040127 to Virginia Sturm.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Psychological Association.
PY - 2016/9/1
Y1 - 2016/9/1
N2 - Disgust is an emotion that helps us deal with potential contamination (Rozin & Fallon, 1987). It produces a distinctive facial expression (e.g., wrinkled nose) and a physiological response that is accompanied by strong visceral sensations (e.g., nausea). Given the important role that the anterior insula plays in processing and integrating visceral information (Craig, 2009), it is likely to be centrally involved in disgust. Despite this, few studies have examined the link between insular degeneration and the experience, physiology, and expression of disgust. We studied a group that was heterogeneous in terms of insular damage: 84 patients with neurodegenerative diseases (i.e., frontotemporal dementia, corticobasal syndrome, progressive supranuclear palsy, Alzheimer's disease) and 29 controls. Subjects viewed films that elicit high levels of disgust and sadness. Emotional reactivity was assessed using self-report, peripheral physiology, and facial behavior. Regional brain volumes (insula, putamen, pallidum, caudate, and amygdala) were determined from structural MRIs using the FreeSurfer method. Results indicated that smaller insular volumes were associated with reduced disgust responding in self-report and physiological reactivity, but not in facial behavior. In terms of the specificity of these findings, insular volume did not predict sadness reactivity, and disgust reactivity was not predicted by putamen, pallidum, and caudate volumes (lower self-reported disgust was associated with smaller amygdala volume). These findings underscore the central role of the insula in the experience and physiology of disgust.
AB - Disgust is an emotion that helps us deal with potential contamination (Rozin & Fallon, 1987). It produces a distinctive facial expression (e.g., wrinkled nose) and a physiological response that is accompanied by strong visceral sensations (e.g., nausea). Given the important role that the anterior insula plays in processing and integrating visceral information (Craig, 2009), it is likely to be centrally involved in disgust. Despite this, few studies have examined the link between insular degeneration and the experience, physiology, and expression of disgust. We studied a group that was heterogeneous in terms of insular damage: 84 patients with neurodegenerative diseases (i.e., frontotemporal dementia, corticobasal syndrome, progressive supranuclear palsy, Alzheimer's disease) and 29 controls. Subjects viewed films that elicit high levels of disgust and sadness. Emotional reactivity was assessed using self-report, peripheral physiology, and facial behavior. Regional brain volumes (insula, putamen, pallidum, caudate, and amygdala) were determined from structural MRIs using the FreeSurfer method. Results indicated that smaller insular volumes were associated with reduced disgust responding in self-report and physiological reactivity, but not in facial behavior. In terms of the specificity of these findings, insular volume did not predict sadness reactivity, and disgust reactivity was not predicted by putamen, pallidum, and caudate volumes (lower self-reported disgust was associated with smaller amygdala volume). These findings underscore the central role of the insula in the experience and physiology of disgust.
KW - Disgust
KW - Insula
KW - Neurodegenerative disease
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U2 - 10.1037/emo0000195
DO - 10.1037/emo0000195
M3 - Article
C2 - 27148847
AN - SCOPUS:84984861583
VL - 16
SP - 903
EP - 912
JO - Emotion
JF - Emotion
SN - 1528-3542
IS - 6
ER -