Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An oval region found in each hemisphere of the cerebral cortex, lateral to the lentiform nucleus and situated within the sylvian fissure, involved in sensation, emotion, and autonomic function.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In anatomy, a portion of the cerebral cortex concealed in the Sylvian fissure, consisting of five or six radiating convolutions, the gyri operti.
  • noun In a Roman city, especially Rome itself, a building composed of distinct apartments let to several families; an apartment-house or tenement-house, in distinction from domus, an independent residence.
  • noun In a smaller Roman city, especially Pompeii, a block of houses entirely surrounded by streets.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The insular cortex, a structure of the human brain located within the lateral sulcus

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin īnsula, from Latin, island.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Latin īnsula ("island")

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Examples

  • Also, people who held a hot therapeutic pad versus cold were more likely to choose a gift for a friend rather than for themselves. 4 In this case, it appears that the insula is the culprit -- it processes physical warmth and social warmth.

    Srinivasan Pillay: Want to Be More Giving? Try Warming Your Hands Srinivasan Pillay 2010

  • Also, people who held a hot therapeutic pad versus cold were more likely to choose a gift for a friend rather than for themselves. 4 In this case, it appears that the insula is the culprit -- it processes physical warmth and social warmth.

    Srinivasan Pillay: Want to Be More Giving? Try Warming Your Hands Srinivasan Pillay 2010

  • Also, people who held a hot therapeutic pad versus cold were more likely to choose a gift for a friend rather than for themselves. 4 In this case, it appears that the insula is the culprit -- it processes physical warmth and social warmth.

    Srinivasan Pillay: Want to Be More Giving? Try Warming Your Hands Srinivasan Pillay 2010

  • And being rejected in love activates a part of the brain called the insula, which is the same region that lights up when we are in physical pain.

    Rick Hanson, Ph.D.: How Did Humans Evolve The Most Loving Brain On Earth? Ph.D. Rick Hanson 2010

  • And being rejected in love activates a part of the brain called the insula, which is the same region that lights up when we are in physical pain.

    Rick Hanson, Ph.D.: How Did Humans Evolve The Most Loving Brain On Earth? Ph.D. Rick Hanson 2010

  • Scientists studying stroke patients found that damage to a place called the insula, which is a spot on the brain near your ear, but if there's damage there, it can instantly and permanently break your smoking habit.

    CNN Transcript Jan 26, 2007 2007

  • There’s additional evidence that the anterior insula is home of the feeling of disgust: people with brain damage in that area lose the capacity to feel disgusted -- they can happily drink sour milk.

    Books, movies, reality: all equally disgusting ewillett 2008

  • The insula is a complicated brain region involved in everything from registering disgust to engaging in social exchanges.

    The Amygdala As Sales Tool Eric Felten 2011

  • In one of his studies he found that, when a cellphone rings, there is activity in a part of the brain called the insula, "which is connected to feelings of love and compassion."

    The Amygdala As Sales Tool Eric Felten 2011

  • But it turns out that humans process relationships among variables in a region of the brain called the insula, which processes visceral reactions like disgust and pain.

    Caging Raging Contagion Jason Zweig 2011

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