insula

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a region of the cerebral cortex folded deep within the lateral sulcus, involved in integrating bodily sensation, emotion, and other functions

   The scan showed activity in the insula while participants evaluated an unpleasant taste.

2. 2
   noun

   in an ancient Roman town, a city block or the multistory apartment building occupying it

   Several families rented rooms in the crowded Roman insula.

Directly from Latin insula ("island"). Romans used the image for a block of buildings separated by streets; anatomists later applied it to the islandlike area of cortex hidden beneath the brain's surrounding folds.

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