AUTHOR=Ben Shalom Dorit TITLE=The amygdala–insula–medial prefrontal cortex–lateral prefrontal cortex pathway and its disorders JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroanatomy VOLUME=16 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroanatomy/articles/10.3389/fnana.2022.1028546 DOI=10.3389/fnana.2022.1028546 ISSN=1662-5129 ABSTRACT=

Smith and Lane have suggested a model of emotion processing with at least three stations: areas like the amygdala, which process discrete body features areas like the anterior insula, which process whole-body patterns and areas like the medial prefrontal cortex, which process emotion concepts. Ben Shalom and Bonneh have suggested a model of the prefrontal cortex, in which medial BA 9 integrates emotional states, and lateral BA 9 performs selection/inhibition on these states. Taken together, the current paper suggests a pathway for emotion processing with at least four stations: areas like the amygdala, which process discrete body features areas like the anterior insula, which process whole-body patterns, medial BA 9 which integrates emotion concepts, and lateral BA 9, which performs selection/inhibition on these concepts. Following the existing literature, it then suggest that there is a significant involvement of the amygdala in psychopathy (Blair), of the anterior insula in alexithymia (Bird), of the medial BA 9 in deficits in somatosensory discrimination (Ben Shalom), and of lateral BA 9 in emotional impulsivity (Ronel).