ArticleCell reports2021
Anterior insula regulates brain network transitions that gate conscious access.
Article in Cell reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers.
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Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 108 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mindful attention promotes control of brain network dynamics for self-regulation and discontinues the past from the present.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Trial
- Opposite network patterns of integration-segregation in psychedelic and sedated states of consciousness.Cell reports · 2026Article
- Reorganization of Human Brain Waves Across Diverse States of Consciousness.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Energy-Based Phase-Locking State Analysis in Brain State Identification.Human brain mapping · 2026Article
- Early reactivation of medial temporal lobe neurons during emergence from propofol anesthesia in neurosurgical patients.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Differences in other-directed emotion regulation tracks connectivity between amygdala and prefrontal regions during fairness decisions.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Esketamine Preserves Network Connectivity and Promotes Recovery in Consciousness Disorders.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Article
- Unraveling spatiotemporal dynamics in transdiagnosis subtypes of major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder: insights from co-activation patterns and treatment response.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Opposing Network Patterns of Integration-Segregation in Psychedelic and Sedated States of Consciousness.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Neurophysiological connectomic signatures of consciousness during propofol-induced general anesthesia.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Article
- Neural and computational mechanisms underlying one-shot perceptual learning in humans.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Acute effects of nitrous oxide on visual processing: a connectome study in healthy adults.Research square · 2026Article
- An open fMRI resource for studying human brain function and covert consciousness under anesthesia.Scientific data · 2026Article
- Illuminating consciousness.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- Investigating the functional neural network dynamics of cognitive-affective action planning during threat processing.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Preservation of anticorrelated brain networks predicts recovery after traumatic brain injury.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Behavioral unresponsiveness and impaired auditory event-related potentials in the anterior insula during rat absence seizures.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Disrupted hierarchical organization in disorders of consciousness revealed by fluctuation-dissipation deviations.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Autonomic heart rate variability trends predict outcome in disorders of consciousness.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Amygdala-insula response to neutral stimuli and the prospective prediction of anxiety sensitivity.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Conscious access to sensory information is likely gated at an intermediate site between primary sensory and transmodal association cortices, but the structure responsible remains unknown. We perform functional neuroimaging to determine the neural correlates of conscious access using a volitional mental imagery task, a report paradigm not confounded by motor behavior. Titrating propofol to loss of behavioral responsiveness in healthy volunteers creates dysfunction of the anterior insular cortex (AIC) in association with an impairment of dynamic transitions of default-mode and dorsal attention networks. Candidate subcortical regions mediating sensory gating or arousal (thalamus, basal forebrain) fail to show this association. The gating role of the AIC is consistent with findings in awake participants, whose conscious access is predicted by pre-stimulus AIC activity near perceptual threshold. These data support the hypothesis that AIC, situated at an intermediate position of the cortical hierarchy, regulates brain network transitions that gate conscious access.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.