Nadine Gogolla

Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Emotion Research Department

Website

Title

Interoceptive regulation of emotional homeostasis: a key role for the Insular Cortex.

Abstract

Maintaining emotional balance is as crucial for survival as maintaining bodily homeostasis. The insular cortex is a key hub for interoceptive and affective processing, integrating bodily feedback signals with external sensory information to regulate both physiological and emotional states. However, the neural mechanisms underlying its dual role in homeostatic regulation and emotional modulation remain poorly understood. Our previous work has demonstrated that the insula plays a dual role in emotional regulation, promoting the extinction of strong fear memories while maintaining weak ones, thus establishing ‘emotion homeostasis’. To further elucidate this function, I will discuss ongoing research investigating the interplay between interoception and neuromodulation in the insular cortex, with a focus on the release dynamics of acetylcholine (ACh) and noradrenaline (NA) in response to changes in bodily physiology and emotional state. Our findings reveal distinct release patterns of NA and ACh, and specific interference with their release during fear extinction learning demonstrates antagonistic effects, highlighting the crucial role of both neuromodulators in maintaining fear levels in equilibrium. These results provide new insights into the neural mechanisms underlying emotional regulation, the interoceptive basis of emotion, and have implications for understanding and treating emotional disorders.

Biosketch

Nadine Gogolla’s research focuses on the neuronal underpinnings of emotion. Using the mouse as a model organism, her lab combines modern systems and circuit neuroscience tools with precise analyses of behavior and bodily physiology. In particular, Nadine's work focusses on the role of the insular cortex in interoception and emotion.  Nadine obtained her PhD in Neurobiology from the University Basel, Switzerland, for her work performed in the lab of Prof. Dr. Pico Caroni at the Friedrich Miescher Institute of Biomedical Research. As a postdoc, Nadine worked in the lab of Prof. Dr. Takao Hensch at Harvard University. Between 2014 and 2021, Nadine was a Max Planck Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried, Germany. In October 2021, Nadine was appointed director at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany, where she leads the Emotion Research Department.