What happens in the brain when we cry?

insular lobe in primates including humans, reviewing over 20 years of research into this area. Connections were found between the insula and the orbital cortex, frontal operculum, lateral premotor cortex, ventral granular cortex and medial area 6 in the frontal lobe. Connections between the insula, SII and retroinsular area were documented. Intrainsular projections to subdivisions of the cingulate gyrus and connections with lateral, lateral basal, central, cortical and medial amygdaloid nuclei exist also. Confirming the insular as a sensori-motor, motor association area and a ‘limbic integration cortex’. With this connectivity, it is highly likely that the insula and its projections will show some activation, although knowing exactly what each pathway or network is doing is notoriously difficult to assess and requires comparisons to other studies focussing on single emotional expressions, but it is assumed, in line with previous research that crying will activate topographically and functionally distinct pathways similar to those found in Augustine’s study which are known to interact with brain areas involved in emotion and memory for sadness/negative affect and that these significant affective activations will be distinguishable from those present in the control task.