Editing Insular cortex (section)

===Social emotions===

The anterior insula processes a person's sense of [[disgust]] both to smells<ref name="Wicker">{{cite journal |vauthors=Wicker B, Keysers C, Plailly J, Royet JP, Gallese V, Rizzolatti G |title=Both of us disgusted in My insula: the common neural basis of seeing and feeling disgust |journal=Neuron |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=655–64 |date=October 2003 |pmid=14642287 |doi=10.1016/S0896-6273(03)00679-2|s2cid=766157 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and to the sight of contamination and mutilation<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Wright P, He G, Shapira NA, Goodman WK, Liu Y |title=Disgust and the insula: fMRI responses to pictures of mutilation and contamination |journal=NeuroReport |volume=15 |issue=15 |pages=2347–51 |date=October 2004 |pmid=15640753 |doi=10.1097/00001756-200410250-00009|s2cid=6864309 }}</ref> — even when just imagining the experience.<ref name="Jabbi">{{cite journal |vauthors=Jabbi M, Bastiaansen J, Keysers C |editor1-last=Lauwereyns |editor1-first=Jan |title=A common anterior insula representation of disgust observation, experience and imagination shows divergent functional connectivity pathways |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=3 |issue=8 |pages=e2939 |year=2008 |pmid=18698355 |pmc=2491556 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0002939 |bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.2939J |doi-access=free }}</ref>  This associates with a [[mirror neuron]]-like link between external and internal experiences.

In social experience, it is involved in the processing of norm violations,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Sanfey AG, Rilling JK, Aronson JA, Nystrom LE, Cohen JD |title=The neural basis of economic decision-making in the Ultimatum Game |journal=Science |volume=300 |issue=5626 |pages=1755–8 |date=June 2003 |pmid=12805551 |doi=10.1126/science.1082976 |bibcode=2003Sci...300.1755S |s2cid=7111382 }}</ref>  emotional processing,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Phan KL, Wager T, Taylor SF, Liberzon I |title=Functional neuroanatomy of emotion: a meta-analysis of emotion activation studies in PET and fMRI |journal=NeuroImage |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=331–48 |date=June 2002 |pmid=12030820 |doi=10.1006/nimg.2002.1087 |s2cid=7150871 }}</ref> empathy,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Singer T |title=The neuronal basis and ontogeny of empathy and mind reading: review of literature and implications for future research |journal=Neurosci Biobehav Rev |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=855–63 |year=2006 |pmid=16904182 |doi=10.1016/j.neubiorev.2006.06.011 |s2cid=15411628 }}</ref> and orgasms.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Ortigue S, Grafton ST, Bianchi-Demicheli F |title=Correlation between insula activation and self-reported quality of orgasm in women |journal=NeuroImage |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=551–60 |date=August 2007 |pmid=17601749 |doi=10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.05.026 |s2cid=3377994 |url=https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:29406 }}</ref>

The insula is active during social decision making. Tiziana Quarto et al. measured [[emotional intelligence]] (EI) (the ability to identify, regulate, and process emotions of themselves and of others) of sixty-three healthy subjects. Using [[functional magnetic resonance imaging|fMRI]] EI was measured in correlation with left insular activity. The subjects were shown various pictures of [[facial expression]]s and tasked with deciding to approach or avoid the person in the picture. The results of the social decision task yielded that individuals with high EI scores had left insular activation when processing fearful faces. Individuals with low EI scores had left insular activation when processing angry faces.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Quarto|first1=Tiziana|last2=Blasi|first2=Giuseppe|last3=Maddalena|first3=Chiara|last4=Viscanti|first4=Giovanna|last5=Lanciano|first5=Tiziana|last6=Soleti|first6=Emanuela|last7=Mangiulli|first7=Ivan|last8=Taurisano|first8=Paolo|last9=Fazio|first9=Leonardo|date=2016-02-09|title=Association between Ability Emotional Intelligence and Left Insula during Social Judgment of Facial Emotions|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=11|issue=2|pages=e0148621|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0148621|issn=1932-6203|pmc=4747486|pmid=26859495|bibcode=2016PLoSO..1148621Q|doi-access=free}}</ref>