What do we remember most easily about our childhood: the first candy we tried or the first fight at school?Almost everyone would aim for the latest. It seems clear that events in which pain is involved to some extent are best preserved in the form of memories, however, some recent studies point to the cerebral cortex of the brain, an area responsible for pain treatment, as a mediator of this type of learning.
Thus, neuroscience has managed, once again and through much research, to assign neuroanatomical bases to the mental processes that we had previously defined.
- The link between the treatment of painful experiences and the learning derived from such experiments is found in the insula.
- On the lateral surface of the brain.
- In the groove that separates the lower parietal cortex from the temporal one.
Sylvius crack is the name given to the lateral groove that separates the temporal cortex from the lower parietal of the brain.
Evolution has provided us with an effective survival mechanism: so-called threat learning. It is this type of learning that we owe, in large part, to the survival of our species.
In addition to us, there are other species that also have this resource facilitated by their respective nervous systems.
The protective feeling of this mechanism is given by the fact that, through this learning, we are able to avoid future situations that may be harmful or painful.
Based on these lessons above, we know that similar events would harm us. In a way, they help us not to “stumble upon the same stone”.
Thus, tapping on the foot of a table with your foot instantly causes acute and irritating pain that will establish a clear learning: to avoid future pains of this type, it will be necessary to avoid hitting the table again.
Scientists long wondered which region of the brain was responsible for alerting other regions of the brain to painful events, so that aversive or threatening learning could be triggered.
It has long been known that the cerebral amygdala is important in this type of learning, but there are still some links to be determined.
As much as the amygdala region collaborated in this learning through the emotional evaluation of the stimuli received, it was still necessary to find the region of the brain that was able, like the driver, to combine all the brain processes involved to constitute a meaningful and integrated sense of learning.
Finally, the insular cortex, compactly folded into the lateral cerebral groove, appears to be responsible for the transmission of “warning signs” linked to painful experiences.
Although there has been evidence of connections between tonsil neurons and island neurons, their function has not yet been studied.
Classically, the insular cortex had been given the ability to encode feelings about our own body.
The studies mentioned used mice as guinea pigs due to the similarities between their island and the human cortex. By disconnecting the bark from the rodent island during painful learning, the researchers discovered that they had virtually lost all fear of future painful events.
Not only that, it has also been proven that in these circumstances, rats reduce their ability to learn from painful experiences.
“We are what we do over and over again. So excellence is not an act, is it a habit ??Aristotle?
It has been proven that the insula plays an important role, in addition to the experience of pain, in the experience of a lot of basic emotions, such as love, hatred, disgust, fear, sadness and happiness.
From an anatomical point of view, the insula is at the precise point of integration of two phenomena in particular:
So what would be the mediation of this process is the association between bodily changes?Emotional states? And changes in the way these changes are experienced qualitatively and subjectively. In short, the insular cortex informs our brain of bodily states.
It has been confirmed that in addition to warning our brain of various states of the body, the insular cortex is able to send powerful warning signals to other regions of the brain that are involved in the formation of memories of unpleasant or painful events.
It is assumed that the neurons in the insula are responsible for the subjective sensation of pain and would therefore also be responsible for adding feelings of discontent to the painful events experienced.
With its functioning, the insular cortex would encourage other areas of the brain to play their respective roles in the aversive learning process.
As a result, insula activity has a significant impact on brain interconnectivity phenomena in various regions of the brain. In addition, this finding corresponds to evidence that the defective activity of this cortical region correlates with various psychiatric conditions.
For example, studies of this type, linking neural connectivity and plasticity mechanisms to brain pain coding mechanisms, could in the future serve as a basis for the creation of new psychiatric approaches.
In this sense, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorders can be two of the main beneficiaries.