title: Reflections of word processing in the insular cortex: a sub-regional parcellation based functional assessment.
abstract: Knowledge about the neuroanatomy of the human brain has exponentially grown in the last decades leading to finer-grained sub-regional parcellations. The goal of this functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) study was to specify the involvement of the insula during visual word processing using a sub-regional parcellation approach. Specifically, we assessed: (1) the number of active voxels falling in each sub-insular cluster; (2) the signal intensity difference between word and letter strings within clusters; (3) the subject-specific cluster selectivity; (4) the lateralization between left and right clusters. We found that word compared to letter string processing was strongly sub-regional sensitive within the anterior-dorsal cluster only, and was left-lateralized. Interestingly, this sensitivity held at both group level and individual level. This study demonstrates that integrating hemodynamic activity with sub-topographic architecture can generate an enriched understanding of sub-regional functional specializations in the human brain.
authors: Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: zaccarella@cbs.mpg.de.
authors: Emiliano
authors: E
authors: Zaccarella
authors: Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany.
authors: Angela D
authors: AD
authors: Friederici
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading
keywords: Clusters; Insula; Language; Word processing; fMRI