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From the body’s viscera to the body’s image: Is there a link between interoception and body image concerns? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 77:237-246. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.03.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2016] [Revised: 03/13/2017] [Accepted: 03/31/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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152
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Ewing DL, Manassei M, Gould van Praag C, Philippides AO, Critchley HD, Garfinkel SN. Sleep and the heart: Interoceptive differences linked to poor experiential sleep quality in anxiety and depression. Biol Psychol 2017; 127:163-172. [PMID: 28554855 PMCID: PMC5606300 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2016] [Revised: 05/10/2017] [Accepted: 05/23/2017] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Poor sleep quality differentially impacts interoception across diagnoses. For all diagnoses, poor sleep quality was linked with poor interoceptive accuracy. For all diagnoses, poor sleep was linked with enhanced interoceptive sensibility. For depression and mixed diagnoses, poor sleep impaired metacognitive awareness.
Interoception is the sense through which internal bodily changes are signalled and perceived. Individual differences in interoception are linked to emotional style and vulnerability to affective disorders. Here we test how experiential sleep quality relates to dimensions of interoceptive ability. 180 adults (42 ‘non-clinical’ individuals, 138 patients accessing mental health services) rated their quality of sleep before performing tests of cardiac interoception. Poor sleep quality was associated with lower measures of interoceptive performance accuracy, and higher self-report measures of interoceptive sensibility in individuals with diagnoses of depression and/or anxiety. Additionally, poor sleep quality was associated with impaired metacognitive interoceptive awareness in patients with diagnoses of depression (alone or with anxiety). Thus, poor sleep quality, a common early expression of psychological disorder, impacts cardiac interoceptive ability and experience across diagnoses. Sleep disruption can contribute to the expression of affective psychopathology through effects on perceptual and interpretative dimensions of bodily awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donna L Ewing
- Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Universities of Brighton and Sussex, United Kingdom; Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, United Kingdom.
| | - Miranda Manassei
- Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Universities of Brighton and Sussex, United Kingdom
| | - Cassandra Gould van Praag
- Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Universities of Brighton and Sussex, United Kingdom; Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
| | | | - Hugo D Critchley
- Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Universities of Brighton and Sussex, United Kingdom; Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, United Kingdom; Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Education Centre, Millview Hospital, Hove BN3 7HY, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah N Garfinkel
- Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Universities of Brighton and Sussex, United Kingdom; Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
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153
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Kleckner IR, Zhang J, Touroutoglou A, Chanes L, Xia C, Simmons WK, Quigley KS, Dickerson BC, Barrett LF. Evidence for a Large-Scale Brain System Supporting Allostasis and Interoception in Humans. Nat Hum Behav 2017; 1:0069. [PMID: 28983518 PMCID: PMC5624222 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-017-0069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 298] [Impact Index Per Article: 42.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2016] [Accepted: 02/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Large-scale intrinsic brain systems have been identified for exteroceptive senses (e.g., sight, hearing, touch). We introduce an analogous system for representing sensations from within the body, called interoception, and demonstrate its relation to regulating peripheral systems in the body, called allostasis. Employing the recently introduced Embodied Predictive Interoception Coding (EPIC) model, we used tract-tracing studies of macaque monkeys, followed by two intrinsic functional magnetic resonance imaging samples (N = 280 and N = 270) to evaluate the existence of an intrinsic allostatic/interoceptive system in the human brain. Another sample (N = 41) allowed us to evaluate the convergent validity of the hypothesized allostatic/interoceptive system by showing that individuals with stronger connectivity between system hubs performed better on an implicit index of interoceptive ability related to autonomic fluctuations. Implications include insights for the brain's functional architecture, dissolving the artificial boundary between mind and body, and unifying mental and physical illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian R. Kleckner
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
| | - Jiahe Zhang
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
| | - Alexandra Touroutoglou
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging
- Psychiatric Neuroimaging Division, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA
| | - Lorena Chanes
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging
- Psychiatric Neuroimaging Division, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA
| | - Chenjie Xia
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA
| | - W. Kyle Simmons
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK
- School of Community Medicine, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
| | - Karen S. Quigley
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
- Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital, Bedford, MA
| | - Bradford C. Dickerson
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA
| | - Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging
- Psychiatric Neuroimaging Division, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA
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154
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Ito T, Yokokawa K, Yahata N, Isato A, Suhara T, Yamada M. Neural basis of negativity bias in the perception of ambiguous facial expression. Sci Rep 2017; 7:420. [PMID: 28341827 PMCID: PMC5428736 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-00502-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2016] [Accepted: 02/28/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Negativity bias, which describes the tendency to interpret ambiguous stimuli or events as negative, is often observed in patients with depression and may prevent psychological well-being. Here, we used ambiguous facial stimuli, with negative (sad) and positive (happy) emotions simultaneously accessible, to examine neural activation during perceptual decision-making in healthy participants. The negativity bias was positively correlated with the activity of the bilateral pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC) when ambiguous faces were perceived as sad versus happy. Additionally, the strength of the functional connectivity between the bilateral pgACC and the right dorsal ACC (dACC)/right thalamus was positively correlated with hopelessness, one of the core characteristics of depression. Given the role of the pgACC as a major site of depressive affect and the roles of the dACC and thalamus in conflict monitoring and vigilance, respectively, our results reveal valid and important neuroanatomical correlates of the association between negativity bias and hopelessness in the healthy individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takehito Ito
- Department of Functional Brain Imaging Research, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
| | - Keita Yokokawa
- Department of Functional Brain Imaging Research, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
| | - Noriaki Yahata
- Department of Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
| | - Ayako Isato
- Department of Functional Brain Imaging Research, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Suhara
- Department of Functional Brain Imaging Research, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
| | - Makiko Yamada
- Department of Functional Brain Imaging Research, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan. .,Group of Quantum and Cellular Systems Biology, QST Advanced Study Laboratory, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan.
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155
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Duquette P. Increasing Our Insular World View: Interoception and Psychopathology for Psychotherapists. Front Neurosci 2017; 11:135. [PMID: 28377690 PMCID: PMC5359279 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2016] [Accepted: 03/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Interoception has been determined to be an elemental aspect of the neural foundations of physiological homeostasis, subjective experience, and motivated behavior. This paper reviews current neuroscience research regarding interoception and forms of interoceptive dysfunction that may result in psychopathology, focusing on depression, and anxiety, in a manner conducive to psychotherapists engaging with it to consider clinical applications. Pertinent aspects of interoceptive system processes in relation to psychopathology are addressed: Functional interoceptive ability and the forms of its expression, the difficulty of accurate measurement of such within an individual or group, interoceptive inference processes and perturbations. Predictive coding, considered in this context as interoceptive inference, a process that integrates bottom-up and top down lines of neural information emerging from the multitude of bidirectional, anatomically hierarchical connections the insular cortex makes with other cortical, and subcortical structures, will be addressed regarding its place in psychopathological formulations. Clinical vignettes will elucidate how interoceptive disturbances might present in the therapeutic relationship, supporting the evaluation and application of scientific theory, and research findings by psychotherapists. The clinical implications of this neuroscientific research have received little attention in the psychotherapeutic setting. Increasing the knowledge base of psychotherapists and furthering awareness of the functional interactions of body and brain toward the creation of healthy and psychopathological experience benefits the patient. There is immediate need for the translational expression of scientific findings into the psychological evaluation of patients, therapeutic process, and treatment. While it may seem distant and unrelated to the affective processes that occur within the psychotherapeutic exchange, neuroscience adds a unique perspective from which to observe and live such experience for the therapist and patient. With the therapeutic relationship as the backdrop, a scientific perspective will support psychotherapists' comprehension of their patients' experience and the process of change, either through direct information, or the development of different perspectives from which to observe and interact with their patients. This paper will serve not only as a guide for psychotherapists concerning this expanding knowledge base, but also a source for neuroscience researchers intent on formulating research protocols that could produce clinical benefit.
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156
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Valenzuela-Moguillansky C, Reyes-Reyes A, Gaete MI. Exteroceptive and Interoceptive Body-Self Awareness in Fibromyalgia Patients. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:117. [PMID: 28348526 PMCID: PMC5346579 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2016] [Accepted: 02/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Fibromyalgia is a widespread chronic pain disease characterized by generalized musculoskeletal pain and fatigue. It substantially affects patients' relationship with their bodies and quality of life, but few studies have investigated the relationship between pain and body awareness in fibromyalgia. We examined exteroceptive and interoceptive aspects of body awareness in 30 women with fibromyalgia and 29 control participants. Exteroceptive body awareness was assessed by a body-scaled action-anticipation task in which participants estimated whether they could pass through apertures of different widths. Interoceptive sensitivity (IS) was assessed by a heartbeat detection task where participants counted their heartbeats during different time intervals. Interoceptive awareness was assessed by the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA). The “passability ratio” (the aperture size for a 50% positive response rate, divided by shoulder width), assessed by the body-scaled action-anticipation task, was higher for fibromyalgia participants, indicating disrupted exteroceptive awareness. Overestimating body size correlated positively with pain and its impact on functionality, but not with pain intensity. There was no difference in IS between groups. Fibromyalgia patients exhibited a higher tendency to note bodily sensations and decreased body confidence. In addition, the passability ratio and IS score correlated negatively across the whole sample, suggesting an inverse relationship between exteroceptive and interoceptive body awareness. There was a lower tendency to actively listen to the body for insight, with higher passability ratios across the whole sample. Based on our results and building on the fear-avoidance model, we outline a proposal that highlights possible interactions between exteroceptive and interoceptive body awareness and pain. Movement based contemplative practices that target sensory-motor integration and foster non-judgmental reconnection with bodily sensations are suggested to improve body confidence, functionality, and quality of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila Valenzuela-Moguillansky
- Centro de Estudios de Argumentación y Razonamiento, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Diego PortalesSantiago, Chile; Instituto de Sistemas Complejos de ValparaísoValparaíso, Chile
| | | | - María I Gaete
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Universidad de Chile Santiago, Chile
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157
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Murphy J, Brewer R, Catmur C, Bird G. Interoception and psychopathology: A developmental neuroscience perspective. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2017; 23:45-56. [PMID: 28081519 PMCID: PMC6987654 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2016.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 198] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2016] [Revised: 12/19/2016] [Accepted: 12/19/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Interoception refers to the perception of the physiological condition of the body, including hunger, temperature, and heart rate. There is a growing appreciation that interoception is integral to higher-order cognition. Indeed, existing research indicates an association between low interoceptive sensitivity and alexithymia (a difficulty identifying one's own emotion), underscoring the link between bodily and emotional awareness. Despite this appreciation, the developmental trajectory of interoception across the lifespan remains under-researched, with clear gaps in our understanding. This qualitative review and opinion paper provides a brief overview of interoception, discussing its relevance for developmental psychopathology, and highlighting measurement issues, before surveying the available work on interoception across four stages of development: infancy, childhood, adolescence and late adulthood. Where gaps in the literature addressing the development of interoception exist, we draw upon the association between alexithymia and interoception, using alexithymia as a possible marker of atypical interoception. Evidence indicates that interoceptive ability varies across development, and that this variance correlates with established age-related changes in cognition and with risk periods for the development of psychopathology. We suggest a theory within which atypical interoception underlies the onset of psychopathology and risky behaviour in adolescence, and the decreased socio-emotional competence observed in late adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Murphy
- MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
| | - Rebecca Brewer
- MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; School of Psychology, The University of East London, London, UK
| | - Caroline Catmur
- MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Geoffrey Bird
- MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL, London, UK; Dept of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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158
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Symptoms and the body: Taking the inferential leap. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 74:185-203. [PMID: 28108416 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 285] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2016] [Revised: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 01/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The relationship between the conscious experience of physical symptoms and indicators of objective physiological dysfunction is highly variable and depends on characteristics of the person, the context and their interaction. This relationship often breaks down entirely in the case of "medically unexplained" or functional somatic symptoms, violating the basic assumption in medicine that physical symptoms have physiological causes. In this paper, we describe the prevailing theoretical approach to this problem and review the evidence pertaining to it. We then use the framework of predictive coding to propose a new and more comprehensive model of the body-symptom relationship that integrates existing concepts within a unifying framework that addresses many of the shortcomings of current theory. We describe the conditions under which a close correspondence between the experience of symptoms and objective physiology might be expected, and when they are likely to diverge. We conclude by exploring some theoretical and clinical implications of this new account.
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159
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Wei Y, Ramautar JR, Colombo MA, Stoffers D, Gómez-Herrero G, van der Meijden WP, te Lindert BH, van der Werf YD, Van Someren EJ. I Keep a Close Watch on This Heart of Mine: Increased Interoception in Insomnia. Sleep 2016; 39:2113-2124. [PMID: 27634787 PMCID: PMC5103799 DOI: 10.5665/sleep.6308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2016] [Accepted: 07/23/2016] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVES Whereas both insomnia and altered interoception are core symptoms in affective disorders, their neural mechanisms remain insufficiently understood and have not previously been linked. Insomnia Disorder (ID) is characterized by sensory hypersensitivity during wakefulness and sleep. Previous studies on sensory processing in ID addressed external stimuli only, but not interoception. Interoceptive sensitivity can be studied quantitatively by measuring the cerebral cortical response to one's heartbeat (heartbeat-evoked potential, HEP). We here investigated whether insomnia is associated with increased interoceptive sensitivity as indexed by the HEP amplitude. METHODS Sixty-four participants aged 21-70 years were recruited through www.sleepregistry.nl including 32 people suffering from ID and 32 age- and sex-matched controls without sleep complaints. HEPs were obtained from resting-state high-density electroencephalography (HD-EEG) recorded during evening wakeful rest in eyes-open (EO) and eyes-closed (EC) conditions of 5-minute duration each. Significance of group differences in HEP amplitude and their topographical distribution over the scalp were assessed by means of cluster-based permutation tests. RESULTS In particular during EC, and to a lesser extent during EO, people with ID had a larger amplitude late HEP component than controls at frontal electrodes 376-500 ms after the R-wave peak. Source localization suggested increased neural activity time-locked to heartbeats in people with ID mainly in anterior cingulate/medial frontal cortices. CONCLUSIONS People with insomnia show insufficient adaptation of their brain responses to the ever-present heartbeats. Abnormalities in the neural circuits involved in interoceptive awareness including the salience network may be of key importance to the pathophysiology of insomnia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yishul Wei
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jennifer R. Ramautar
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Michele A. Colombo
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Bernstein Center Freiburg and Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel (UPK), Basel, Switzerland
| | - Diederick Stoffers
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Germán Gómez-Herrero
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Wisse P. van der Meijden
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Bart H.W. te Lindert
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ysbrand D. van der Werf
- Department of Emotion and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Eus J.W. Van Someren
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Departments of Psychiatry and Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), VU University and Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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160
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Barrett LF, Quigley KS, Hamilton P. An active inference theory of allostasis and interoception in depression. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 371:20160011. [PMID: 28080969 PMCID: PMC5062100 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 231] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/19/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper, we integrate recent theoretical and empirical developments in predictive coding and active inference accounts of interoception (including the Embodied Predictive Interoception Coding model) with working hypotheses from the theory of constructed emotion to propose a biologically plausible unified theory of the mind that places metabolism and energy regulation (i.e. allostasis), as well as the sensory consequences of that regulation (i.e. interoception), at its core. We then consider the implications of this approach for understanding depression. We speculate that depression is a disorder of allostasis, whose myriad symptoms result from a 'locked in' brain that is relatively insensitive to its sensory context. We conclude with a brief discussion of the ways our approach might reveal new insights for the treatment of depression.This article is part of the themed issue 'Interoception beyond homeostasis: affect, cognition and mental health'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Karen S Quigley
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Paul Hamilton
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
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161
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Noël X, Bechara A. Bridging the Gap between the Lab and the Clinic: Psychopathology's Grand Challenge. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1752. [PMID: 27877152 PMCID: PMC5100439 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2016] [Accepted: 10/25/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Xavier Noël
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Médicale et d'Addictologie, Université Libre de Bruxelles Brussels, Belgium
| | - Antoine Bechara
- Department of Psychology and Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA, USA
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162
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Schulz SM. Neural correlates of heart-focused interoception: a functional magnetic resonance imaging meta-analysis. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 371:rstb.2016.0018. [PMID: 28080975 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Interoception is the ability to perceive one's internal body state including visceral sensations. Heart-focused interoception has received particular attention, in part due to a readily available task for behavioural assessment, but also due to accumulating evidence for a significant role in emotional experience, decision-making and clinical disorders such as anxiety and depression. Improved understanding of the underlying neural correlates is important to promote development of anatomical-functional models and suitable intervention strategies. In the present meta-analysis, nine studies reporting neural activity associated with interoceptive attentiveness (i.e. focused attention to a particular interoceptive signal for a given time interval) to one's heartbeat were submitted to a multilevel kernel density analysis. The findings corroborated an extended network associated with heart-focused interoceptive attentiveness including the posterior right and left insula, right claustrum, precentral gyrus and medial frontal gyrus. Right-hemispheric dominance emphasizes non-verbal information processing with the posterior insula presumably serving as the major gateway for cardioception. Prefrontal neural activity may reflect both top-down attention deployment and processing of feed-forward cardioceptive information, possibly orchestrated via the claustrum.This article is part of the themed issue 'Interoception beyond homeostasis: affect, cognition and mental health'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan M Schulz
- Department of Psychology I, University of Würzburg, Marcusstrasse 9-11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany .,Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Würzburg, University Hospital Würzburg, Straubmühlweg 2a, 97078 Würzburg, Germany
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163
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Lackner RJ, Fresco DM. Interaction effect of brooding rumination and interoceptive awareness on depression and anxiety symptoms. Behav Res Ther 2016; 85:43-52. [PMID: 27567108 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2016.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2016] [Revised: 08/10/2016] [Accepted: 08/15/2016] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Awareness of the body (i.e., interoceptive awareness) and self-referential thought represent two distinct, yet habitually integrated aspects of self. A recent neuroanatomical and processing model for depression and anxiety incorporates the connections between increased but low fidelity afferent interoceptive input with self-referential and belief-based states. A deeper understanding of how self-referential processes are integrated with interoceptive processes may ultimately aid in our understanding of altered, maladaptive views of the self - a shared experience of individuals with mood and anxiety disorders. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to examine how negative self-referential processing (i.e., brooding rumination) relates to interoception in the context of affective psychopathology. Undergraduate students (N = 82) completed an interoception task (heartbeat counting) in addition to self-reported measures of rumination and depression and anxiety symptoms. Results indicated an interaction effect of brooding rumination and interoceptive awareness on depression and anxiety-related distress. Specifically, high levels of brooding rumination coupled with low levels of interoceptive awareness were associated with the highest levels of depression and anxiety-related distress, whereas low levels of brooding rumination coupled with high levels of interoceptive awareness were associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety-related distress. The findings provide further support for the conceptualization of anxiety and depression as conditions involving the integration of interoceptive processes and negative self-referential processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan J Lackner
- Kent State University, Department of Psychological Sciences, Kent, OH, USA.
| | - David M Fresco
- Kent State University, Department of Psychological Sciences, Kent, OH, USA
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164
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Ardizzi M, Ambrosecchia M, Buratta L, Ferri F, Peciccia M, Donnari S, Mazzeschi C, Gallese V. Interoception and Positive Symptoms in Schizophrenia. Front Hum Neurosci 2016; 10:379. [PMID: 27512369 PMCID: PMC4961721 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2016] [Accepted: 07/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study focuses on the multifaceted concept of self-disturbance in schizophrenia, adding knowledge about a not yet investigated aspect, which is the interoceptive accuracy. Starting from the assumption that interoceptive accuracy requires an intact sense of self, which otherwise was proved to be altered in schizophrenia, the aim of the present study was to explore interoceptive accuracy in a group of schizophrenia patients, compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, the possible association between interoceptive accuracy and patients' positive and negative symptomatology was assessed. To pursue these goals, a group of 23 schizophrenia patients and a group of 23 healthy controls performed a heartbeat perception task. Patients' symptomatology was assessed by means of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results demonstrated significantly lower interoceptive accuracy in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy controls. This difference was not accounted for participants' age, BMI, anxiety levels, and heart rate. Furthermore, patients' illness severity, attention and pharmacological treatment did not influence their interoceptive accuracy levels. Interestingly, a strong positive relation between interoceptive accuracy and positive symptoms severity, especially Grandiosity, was found. The present results demonstrate for the first time that interoceptive accuracy is altered in schizophrenia. Furthermore, they prove a specific association between interoceptive accuracy and positive symptomatology, suggesting that the symptom Grandiosity might be protective against an altered basic sense of self in patients characterized by higher sensibility to their inner bodily sensations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Ardizzi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma Parma, Italy
| | | | - Livia Buratta
- Department of Human Science and Education, University of Perugia Perugia, Italy
| | - Francesca Ferri
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex Colchester, UK
| | - Maurizio Peciccia
- Department of Human Science and Education, University of Perugia Perugia, Italy
| | | | - Claudia Mazzeschi
- Department of Human Science and Education, University of Perugia Perugia, Italy
| | - Vittorio Gallese
- Department of Neuroscience, University of ParmaParma, Italy; Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, University of LondonLondon, UK
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165
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Srivastava P, Gupta R, Chari D, Rawat A, Goel D. Comparison of prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and poor sleep quality in patients with coronary artery disease and depression. SOMNOLOGIE 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s11818-016-0053-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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166
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE Our overall aim-through a narrative review-is to critically profile key extant evidence of menopause-related sleep, mostly from studies published in the last decade. METHODS We searched the database PubMed using selected Medical Subject Headings for sleep and menopause (n = 588 articles). Using similar headings, we also searched the Cochrane Library (n = 1), Embase (n = 449), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (n = 163), Web of Science (n = 506), and PsycINFO (n = 58). Articles deemed most related to the purpose were reviewed. RESULTS Results were articulated with interpretive comments according to evidence of sleep quality (self-reported) and sleep patterns (polysomnography and actigraphy) impact as related to reproductive aging and in the context of vasomotor symptoms (VMS; self-reported), vasomotor activity (VMA) events (recorded skin conductance), depressed mood, and ovarian hormones. CONCLUSIONS Predominantly, the menopausal transition conveys poor sleep beyond anticipated age effects. Perceptions of sleep are not necessarily translatable from detectable physical sleep changes and are probably affected by an emotional overlay on symptoms reporting. Sleep quality and pattern changes are mostly manifest in wakefulness indicators, but sleep pattern changes are not striking. Likely contributing are VMS of sufficient frequency/severity and bothersomeness, probably with a sweating component. VMA events influence physical sleep fragmentation but not necessarily extensive sleep loss or sleep architecture changes. Lack of robust connections between perceived and recorded sleep (and VMA) could be influenced by inadequate detection. There is a need for studies of women in well-defined menopausal transition stages who have no sleep problems, accounting for sleep-related disorders, mood, and other symptoms, with attention to VMS dimensions, distribution of VMS during night and day, and advanced measurement of symptoms and physiologic manifestations.
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167
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Khalsa SS, Lapidus RC. Can Interoception Improve the Pragmatic Search for Biomarkers in Psychiatry? Front Psychiatry 2016; 7:121. [PMID: 27504098 PMCID: PMC4958623 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 178] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2016] [Accepted: 06/21/2016] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Disrupted interoception is a prominent feature of the diagnostic classification of several psychiatric disorders. However, progress in understanding the interoceptive basis of these disorders has been incremental, and the application of interoception in clinical treatment is currently limited to panic disorder. To examine the degree to which the scientific community has recognized interoception as a construct of interest, we identified and individually screened all articles published in the English language on interoception and associated root terms in Pubmed, Psychinfo, and ISI Web of Knowledge. This search revealed that interoception is a multifaceted process that is being increasingly studied within the fields of psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience, and biomedical science. To illustrate the multifaceted nature of interoception, we provide a focused review of one of the most commonly studied interoceptive channels, the cardiovascular system, and give a detailed comparison of the most popular methods used to study cardiac interoception. We subsequently review evidence of interoceptive dysfunction in panic disorder, depression, somatic symptom disorders, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa. For each disorder, we suggest how interoceptive predictions constructed by the brain may erroneously bias individuals to express key symptoms and behaviors, and outline questions that are suitable for the development of neuroscience-based mental health interventions. We conclude that interoception represents a viable avenue for clinical and translational research in psychiatry, with a well-established conceptual framework, a neural basis, measurable biomarkers, interdisciplinary appeal, and transdiagnostic targets for understanding and improving mental health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sahib S Khalsa
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR), Tulsa, OK, USA; Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Rachel C Lapidus
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR), Tulsa, OK, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA
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168
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Wiebking C, Northoff G. Neural activity during interoceptive awareness and its associations with alexithymia-An fMRI study in major depressive disorder and non-psychiatric controls. Front Psychol 2015; 6:589. [PMID: 26074827 PMCID: PMC4444750 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2014] [Accepted: 04/21/2015] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Alexithymia relates to difficulties recognizing and describing emotions. It has been linked to subjectively increased interoceptive awareness (IA) and to psychiatric illnesses such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and somatization. MDD in turn is characterized by aberrant emotion processing and IA on the subjective as well as on the neural level. However, a link between neural activity in response to IA and alexithymic traits in health and depression remains unclear. METHODS A well-established fMRI task was used to investigate neural activity during IA (heartbeat counting) and exteroceptive awareness (tone counting) in non-psychiatric controls (NC) and MDD. Firstly, comparing MDD and NC, a linear relationship between IA-related activity and scores of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) was investigated through whole-brain regression. Secondly, NC were divided by median-split of TAS scores into groups showing low (NC-low) or high (NC-high) alexithymia. MDD and NC-high showed equally high TAS scores. Subsequently, IA-related neural activity was compared on a whole-brain level between the three independent samples (MDD, NC-low, NC-high). RESULTS Whole-brain regressions between MDD and NC revealed neural differences during IA as a function of TAS-DD (subscale difficulty describing feelings) in the supragenual anterior cingulate cortex (sACC; BA 24/32), which were due to negative associations between TAS-DD and IA-related activity in NC. Contrasting NC subgroups after median-split on a whole-brain level, high TAS scores were associated with decreased neural activity during IA in the sACC and increased insula activity. Though having equally high alexithymia scores, NC-high showed increased insula activity during IA compared to MDD, whilst both groups showed decreased activity in the sACC. CONCLUSIONS Within the context of decreased sACC activity during IA in alexithymia (NC-high and MDD), increased insula activity might mirror a compensatory mechanism in NC-high, which is disrupted in MDD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Wiebking
- Cluster of Excellence in Cognitive Sciences, Department of Sociology of Physical Activity and Health, University of PotsdamPotsdam, Germany
| | - Georg Northoff
- Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics, Institute of Mental Health Research, University of OttawaOttawa, ON, Canada
- Graduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine, Taipei Medical UniversityTaipei, Taiwan
- Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital, Brain and Consciousness Research CenterNew Taipei City, Taiwan
- Department of Psychology, National Chengchi UniversityTaipei, Taiwan
- Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Normal University HangzhouHangzhou, China
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169
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Wiebking C, de Greck M, Duncan NW, Tempelmann C, Bajbouj M, Northoff G. Interoception in insula subregions as a possible state marker for depression-an exploratory fMRI study investigating healthy, depressed and remitted participants. Front Behav Neurosci 2015; 9:82. [PMID: 25914633 PMCID: PMC4392695 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2014] [Accepted: 03/17/2015] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Interoceptive awareness (iA), the awareness of stimuli originating inside the body, plays an important role in human emotions and psychopathology. The insula is particularly involved in neural processes underlying iA. However, iA-related neural activity in the insula during the acute state of major depressive disorder (MDD) and in remission from depression has not been explored. Methods: A well-established fMRI paradigm for studying (iA; heartbeat counting) and exteroceptive awareness (eA; tone counting) was used. Study participants formed three independent groups: patients suffering from MDD, patients in remission from MDD or healthy controls. Task-induced neural activity in three functional subdivisions of the insula was compared between these groups. Results: Depressed participants showed neural hypo-responses during iA in anterior insula regions, as compared to both healthy and remitted participants. The right dorsal anterior insula showed the strongest response to iA across all participant groups. In depressed participants there was no differentiation between different stimuli types in this region (i.e., between iA, eA and noTask). Healthy and remitted participants in contrast showed clear activity differences. Conclusions: This is the first study comparing iA and eA-related activity in the insula in depressed participants to that in healthy and remitted individuals. The preliminary results suggest that these groups differ in there being hypo-responses across insula regions in the depressed participants, whilst non-psychiatric participants and patients in remission from MDD show the same neural activity during iA in insula subregions implying a possible state marker for MDD. The lack of activity differences between different stimulus types in the depressed group may account for their symptoms of altered external and internal focus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Wiebking
- Cluster of Excellence in Cognitive Sciences, Department of Sociology of Physical Activity and Health, University of Potsdam Potsdam, Germany ; Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics, Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Moritz de Greck
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Mainz Mainz, Germany
| | - Niall W Duncan
- Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics, Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa Ottawa, ON, Canada ; Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University Hangzhou, China ; Graduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine, Taipei Medical University Taipei, Taiwan ; Brain and Consciousness Research Center, Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Claus Tempelmann
- Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Malek Bajbouj
- Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion" and Dahlem Institute for Neuroimaging of Emotion, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin, Germany ; Department of Psychiatry, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Campus Benjamin Franklin Berlin, Germany
| | - Georg Northoff
- Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics, Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa Ottawa, ON, Canada ; Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University Hangzhou, China ; Graduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine, Taipei Medical University Taipei, Taiwan ; Brain and Consciousness Research Center, Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital New Taipei City, Taiwan ; Department of Psychology, National Chengchi University Taipei, Taiwan
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Cheng AM, Jaint D, Thomas S, Wilson JK, Parker W. Overcoming Evolutionary Mismatch by Self-Treatment with Helminths: Current Practices and Experience. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015. [DOI: 10.4303/jem/235910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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