Internal medicine

Neuroscience

Perception

Cortex (anatomy)

Stomach

Cerebral cortex

Interoception

Insula

Psychology

Insular cortex

Medicine

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Significance Despite the longstanding appreciation that how we move, think, and feel has an impact on stomach function, the areas of the cerebral cortex that are the origin of these influences are largely unknown. Here we identify the cortical areas that influence the rat stomach. Output neurons in the rostral insula are the major cortical source of influence over parasympathetic control of the stomach, whereas output neurons in sensorimotor areas of the cortex are the major source of influence over sympathetic control. Thus, cortical areas involved in action, interoception, and emotion differentially influence stomach function.

Multiple areas of the cerebral cortex influence the stomach