Interoception and emotional-somatic awareness

The insula is a major connective hub for integrating neural networks of the brain—where somatosensory, emotional, cognitive and executive networks all meet and link together to produce a representation of self and being in the world. The insula is involved in homeostasis and planning for actions; if you plan to go outside, it starts the necessary pumping of blood and shift in metabolism. The same is true for substance use and cues that are associated with it. Not merely reward, but the sensation of craving that compels addicts to use.

It is also the area that allows us to have interoception.