Amygdala and Insula Main Functions

So you mentioned amygdala insula. Talk to us about what is that? Yes. So the amygdala, we have two of them. They're the two almond shaped structures that sit in the limbic system, part of the brain. So they sit behind the eyes. And they have many roles, but the amygdala's main role is threat detection and response. And it's what they call a quick and dirty pathway. So it's the response we first have before we're even consciously aware of the dangers around us. The amygdala essentially, in our view, when it responds to psychological threats, it has a certain set of pathways. And that's what we traditionally think of as the amygdala involved in anxiety, PTSD type responses. But now we know the brain doesn't differentiate. The amygdala is also involved in pain responses, also involved in immune responses, because the brain is just like, what's the threat? How do I respond? Now, the insular part of the brain, the insular cortex is this brain structure that sits between the limbic system and the cortex. It's part of the cortex, and its job is to take in all incoming data from the body, including from the vagus nerve, interpret that data in terms of immune data, autonomic data, heart rate, blood pressure, and then create the appropriate response to ensure survival and homeostasis. Those two brain structures work together to detect threats. And we believe that conditioning lies in both of those brain structures.