====== Dorsal anterior insula (dAI) ======

Dorsal anterior [[insula]] region with connections to frontal, anterior cingulate, and parietal areas is involved in cognitive control processes, a ventral anterior insula (vAI) subdivision has connections with limbic areas and is involved in affective processes, and a mid-posterior insula (PI) subdivision has connections with brain regions for sensorimotor processing
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Using dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) analyses to examine time-varying properties of interactions between insular subdivisions and other brain regions, it has been demonstrated that the dAI exhibits more variable connections than the other insular subdivision
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The [[insula]], consisting of [[functional]]ly diverse subdivisions, plays a significant role in [[Parkinson's disease]] (PD)-related [[cognitive disorder]]s. However, the [[functional connectivity]] (FC) patterns of [[insular subdivisions]] in PD remain unclear. The aim of Pan et al. is to investigate the changes in FC patterns of insular subdivisions and their relationships with [[cognitive]] domains. Three groups of participants were recruited in this [[study]], including PD patients with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI, n = 25), PD patients with normal [[cognition]] (PD-NC, n = 13), and healthy controls (HCs, n = 17). [[Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging]] (rs-fMRI) was used to investigate the FC in insular subdivisions of the three groups. Moreover, all participants underwent a neuropsychological battery to assess cognition so that the relationship between altered FC and cognitive performance could be elucidated. Compared with the PD-NC group, the PD-MCI group exhibited increased FC between the left [[dorsal anterior insula]]r (dAI) and the right [[superior parietal gyrus]] (SPG), and altered FC was negatively correlated with [[memory]] and [[executive function]]. Compared with the HC group, the PD-MCI group showed significantly increased FC between the right dAI and the right median [[cingulate]] and [[paracingulate gyri]] (DCG), and altered FC was positively related to [[attention]]/[[working memory]], [[visuospatial function]], and [[language]]. The findings highlighted the different abnormal FC patterns of insular subdivisions in PD patients with different cognitive abilities. Furthermore, dysfunction of the dAI may partly contribute to the decline in executive function and memory in early drug-naïve PD patients
((Pan C, Ren J, Li L, Li Y, Xu J, Xue C, Hu G, Yu M, Chen Y, Zhang L, Zhang W, Hu X, Sun Y, Liu W, Chen J. Differential functional connectivity of insular subdivisions in de novo Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment. Brain Imaging Behav. 2021 Mar 26. doi: 10.1007/s11682-021-00471-2. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33770371.)).