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Putica A, Agathos J. Reconceptualizing complex posttraumatic stress disorder: A predictive processing framework for mechanisms and intervention. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 164:105836. [PMID: 39084584 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2024] [Revised: 07/24/2024] [Accepted: 07/29/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024]
Abstract
In this article, we introduce a framework for interpreting Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) through predictive processing, a neuroscience concept explaining the brain's interpretation and prediction of sensory information. While closely related to PTSD, C-PTSD encompasses additional symptom clusters marked by disturbances in self-organization (DSO), such as negative self-concept, affect dysregulation, and relational difficulties, typically resulting from prolonged traumatic stressors. Our model leverages advances in computational psychiatry and neuroscience, offering a mechanistic explanation for these symptoms by illustrating how prolonged trauma disrupts the brain's predictive processing. Specifically, altered predictive mechanisms contribute to C-PTSD's symptomatology, focusing on DSO: (1) Negative self-concept emerges from maladaptive priors that bias perception towards self-criticism, misaligning expected and actual interoceptive states; (2) Misalignment between predicted and actual interoceptive signals leads to affect dysregulation, with sensitivity to bodily cues; and (3) Relationship challenges arise from skewed social prediction errors, fostering mistrust and withdrawal. This precision-focused approach sheds light on the dynamics underpinning C-PTSD and highlights potential intervention targets aimed at recalibrating the predictive processing system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Putica
- School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
| | - James Agathos
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
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Donaghy R, Shinskey J, Tsakiris M. Maternal interoceptive focus is associated with greater reported engagement in mother-infant stroking and rocking. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0302791. [PMID: 38900756 PMCID: PMC11189230 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Parental caregiving during infancy is primarily aimed at the regulation of infants' physiological and emotional states. Recent models of embodied cognition propose that interoception, i.e., the perception of internal bodily states, may influence the quality and quantity of parent-infant caregiving. Yet, empirical investigations into this relationship remain scarce. Across two online studies of mothers with 6- to 18-month-old infants during Covid-19 lockdowns, we examined whether mothers' self-reported engagement in stroking and rocking their infant was related to self-reported interoceptive abilities. Additional measures included retrospective accounts of pregnancy and postnatal body satisfaction, and mothers' reports of their infant's understanding of vocabulary relating to body parts. In Study 1 (N = 151) and Study 2 (N = 111), mothers reported their engagement in caregiving behaviours and their tendency to focus on and regulate bodily states. In a subsample from Study 2 (N = 49), we also obtained an objective measure of cardiac interoceptive accuracy using an online heartbeat counting task. Across both studies, the tendency to focus on and regulate interoceptive states was associated with greater mother-infant stroking and rocking. Conversely, we found no evidence for a relationship between objective interoceptive accuracy and caregiving. The findings suggest that interoception may play a role in parental engagement in stroking and rocking, however, in-person dyadic studies are warranted to further investigate this relationship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosie Donaghy
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
| | - Jeanne Shinskey
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
| | - Manos Tsakiris
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
- Centre for the Politics of Feelings, Senate House, School of Advanced Study, University of London, Egham, London, United Kingdom
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Zhou M, Cheng L, Zhou Y, Zhu S, Zhang Y, Kendrick KM, Yao S. Intranasal Oxytocin Improves Interoceptive Accuracy and Heartbeat-Evoked Potentials During a Cardiac Interoceptive Task. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2024:S2451-9022(24)00137-X. [PMID: 38839034 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Revised: 05/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Interoception represents perception of the internal bodily state, which is closely associated with social/emotional processing and physical health in humans. Understanding the mechanism that underlies interoceptive processing, particularly its modulation, is therefore of great importance. Given the overlap between oxytocinergic pathways and interoceptive signaling substrates in both peripheral visceral organs and the brain, intranasal oxytocin administration is a promising approach for modulating interoceptive processing. METHODS Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-participant design, we recruited 72 healthy male participants who performed a cardiac interoceptive task during electroencephalograph and electrocardiograph recording to examine whether intranasal administration of the neuropeptide oxytocin could modulate interoceptive processing. We also collected data in a resting state to examine whether we could replicate previous findings. RESULTS The results showed that in the interoceptive task, oxytocin increased interoceptive accuracy at the behavioral level, which was paralleled by larger heartbeat-evoked potential amplitudes in frontocentral and central regions on the neural level. However, there were no significant effects of oxytocin on electroencephalograph or electrocardiograph during resting state. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that oxytocin may only have a facilitatory effect on interoceptive processing under task-based conditions. Our findings not only provide new insights into the modulation of interoceptive processing via targeting the oxytocinergic system but also provide proof-of-concept evidence for the therapeutic potential of intranasal oxytocin in mental disorders with dysfunctional interoception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Menghan Zhou
- Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China; MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Lanqing Cheng
- Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China; MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Yibo Zhou
- Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China; MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Siyu Zhu
- School of Sport Training, Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Yuan Zhang
- Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China; MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Keith M Kendrick
- Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China; MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
| | - Shuxia Yao
- Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China; MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
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Marson F, Naor-Ziv R, Paoletti P, Glicksohn J, Harris T, Elliott MA, Carducci F, Ben-Soussan TD. When the body fosters empathy: The interconnectivity between bodily reactivity, meditation, and embodied abstract concepts. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2024; 287:217-245. [PMID: 39097354 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2024.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/05/2024]
Abstract
Empathy is a fundamental social ability that allows humans to infer others' emotions and intentions. Empathy is thought to be rooted in bodily sensations coming from the autonomic nervous system. In parallel, the functionality and perceptions coming from the autonomic nervous system could be improved by practicing activities that involve mind-body interactions, such as meditation. Furthermore, perceptions from the autonomic nervous system are thought to be important in the embodiment of abstract concepts. Consequently, in the current study, we collected data online from 581 participants and explored the associations between levels of empathy and (1) the practice of meditation, music, and sports; (2) the impact of self-report measures on bodily awareness and reactivity; and (3) the embodiment of abstract concepts in interoception. In line with previous studies, Meditators were found to have higher empathy scores than Non-Meditators. In addition, lower levels of autonomic reactivity in organs above the diaphragm were associated with higher empathy. Finally, we also observed that empathy was positively associated with interoceptive components of abstract concepts in those participants with high autonomic reactivity. Taken together, the results suggest that meditation practice and having low autonomic reactivity are associated with empathy, arguably through the downregulation of autonomic responses. Implications for mind-body interaction in meditation and its role in promoting empathy are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Marson
- Research Institute for Neuroscience, Education and Didactics, Patrizio Paoletti Foundation for Development and Communication, Assisi, Italy; Neurophysiology and Pharmacology Department, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
| | - Revital Naor-Ziv
- Department of Criminology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Patrizio Paoletti
- Research Institute for Neuroscience, Education and Didactics, Patrizio Paoletti Foundation for Development and Communication, Assisi, Italy
| | - Joseph Glicksohn
- Department of Criminology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel; The Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Tadhg Harris
- School of Psychology, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Mark A Elliott
- School of Psychology, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Filippo Carducci
- Neurophysiology and Pharmacology Department, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan
- Research Institute for Neuroscience, Education and Didactics, Patrizio Paoletti Foundation for Development and Communication, Assisi, Italy
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Lucherini Angeletti L, Cassioli E, Tarchi L, Dani C, Faldi M, Martini R, Ricca V, Castellini G, Rossi E. From early relational experiences to non-suicidal self-injury in anorexia and bulimia nervosa: a structural equation model unraveling the role of impairments in interoception. Eat Weight Disord 2024; 29:22. [PMID: 38528258 DOI: 10.1007/s40519-024-01651-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2024] [Accepted: 03/17/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) frequently exhibit Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI), yet their co-occurrence is still unclear. To address this issue, the aim of this study was to elucidate the role of impairments in interoception in explaining the NSSI phenomenon in AN and BN, providing an explanatory model that considers distal (insecure attachment/IA and traumatic childhood experiences/TCEs) and proximal (dissociation and emotional dysregulation) risk factors for NSSI. METHOD 130 patients with AN and BN were enrolled and administered self-report questionnaires to assess the intensity of NSSI behaviors, interoceptive deficits, IA, TCEs, emotional dysregulation and dissociative symptoms. RESULTS Results from structural equation modeling revealed that impairments in interoception acted as crucial mediators between early negative relational experiences and factors that contribute to NSSI in AN and BN, particularly emotional dysregulation and dissociation. Precisely, both aspects of IA (anxiety and avoidance) and various forms of TCEs significantly exacerbated interoceptive deficits, which in turn are associated to the emergence of NSSI behaviors through the increase in levels of dissociation and emotional dysregulation. CONCLUSIONS The proposed model provided a novel explanation of the occurrence of NSSIs in patients with AN and BN by accounting for the significance of interoception. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level V-Cross-sectional observational study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Lucherini Angeletti
- Psychiatry Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla, 3, 50134, Florence, Italy.
- The Royal's Institute of Mental Health Research & University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
| | - Emanuele Cassioli
- Psychiatry Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla, 3, 50134, Florence, Italy
| | - Livio Tarchi
- Psychiatry Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla, 3, 50134, Florence, Italy
| | - Cristiano Dani
- Psychiatry Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla, 3, 50134, Florence, Italy
| | - Marco Faldi
- Psychiatry Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla, 3, 50134, Florence, Italy
| | - Rachele Martini
- Psychiatry Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla, 3, 50134, Florence, Italy
| | - Valdo Ricca
- Psychiatry Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla, 3, 50134, Florence, Italy
| | - Giovanni Castellini
- Psychiatry Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla, 3, 50134, Florence, Italy.
| | - Eleonora Rossi
- Psychiatry Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla, 3, 50134, Florence, Italy
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Li X, Peng C, Qin F, Luo Q, Ren Z, Wang X, Feng Q, Liu C, Li Y, Wei D, Qiu J. Basolateral Amygdala Functional Connectivity in Alexithymia: Linking Interoceptive Sensibility and Cognitive Empathy. Neuroscience 2024; 539:12-20. [PMID: 38176608 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.12.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/26/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
Emotions rely on bodily states, and perceiving the emotions of others depends on awareness of one's own emotional state. However, the intercorrelations among interoception, alexithymia, and empathy are not well understood, and the neural mechanisms behind this connection are also largely unknown. To address these issues, 297 college students participated in this study, completing measures of interoceptive sensibility (IS), empathy and alexithymia and undergoing resting-state fMRI scans. The functional connectivity of the amygdala was analysed to identify the neural substrates of alexithymia, and mediation analyses were conducted to examine the mediation effect of alexithymia and alexithymia-specific amygdala functional connectivity on the relationship between IS and empathy. The results showed that higher levels of IS were associated with increased cognitive empathy through weakened alexithymia. Functional connectivity analysis indicated that right basolateral amygdala (BLA)-left precuneus connectivity was negatively related to alexithymia, while right BLA-left precentral gyrus connectivity was positively related to alexithymia. Furthermore, right BLA-left precuneus connectivity was found to mediate the impact of interoception on cognitive empathy. In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into the relationships among IS, alexithymia, and empathy. The right BLA-left precuneus connectivity may serve as a shared neural substrate between interoception and cognitive empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xianrui Li
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University (SWU), Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Chuyao Peng
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University (SWU), Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Facai Qin
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University (SWU), Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Qian Luo
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University (SWU), Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Zhiting Ren
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University (SWU), Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Xueyang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University (SWU), Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Qiuyang Feng
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University (SWU), Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Cheng Liu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University (SWU), Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Yang Li
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Dongtao Wei
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University (SWU), Chongqing 400715, China.
| | - Jiang Qiu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University (SWU), Chongqing 400715, China; Southwest University Branch, Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment, Toward Basic Education Quality at Beijing Normal University, China.
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Moffat R, Cross ES. Evaluations of dyadic synchrony: observers' traits influence estimation and enjoyment of synchrony in mirror-game movements. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2904. [PMID: 38316911 PMCID: PMC10844651 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53191-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
While evidence abounds that motor synchrony is a powerful form of 'social glue' for those involved, we have yet to understand how observers perceive motor synchrony: can observers estimate the degree of synchrony accurately? Is synchrony aesthetically pleasing? In two preregistered experiments (n = 161 each), we assess how accurately observers can estimate the degree of synchrony in dyads playing the mirror game, and how much observers enjoy watching these movements. We further assess whether accuracy and enjoyment are influenced by individual differences in self-reported embodied expertise (ability to reproduce movements, body awareness, body competence), psychosocial resources (extraversion, self-esteem), or social competencies (empathy, autistic traits), while objectively controlling for the degree of measured synchrony and complexity. The data revealed that observers' estimated synchrony with poor accuracy, showing a tendency to underestimate the level of synchrony. Accuracy for low synchrony improved with increasing body competence, while accuracy for high synchrony improved with increasing autistic traits. Observers' enjoyment of dyadic movements correlated positively with the degree of measured synchrony, the predictability of the movements, and the observer's empathy. Furthermore, very low enjoyment was associated with increased body perception. Our findings indicate that accuracy in perceiving synchrony is closely linked to embodiment, while aesthetic evaluations of action hinge on individual differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryssa Moffat
- Professorship for Social Brain Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
| | - Emily S Cross
- Professorship for Social Brain Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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Tirkkonen SK, Vespermann D. Incels, autism, and hopelessness: affective incorporation of online interaction as a challenge for phenomenological psychopathology. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1235929. [PMID: 38125854 PMCID: PMC10732311 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1235929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent research has drawn attention to the prevalence of self-reported autism within online communities of involuntary celibates (incels). These studies suggest that some individuals with autism may be particularly vulnerable to the impact of incel forums and the hopelessness they generate. However, a more precise description of the experiential connection between inceldom, self-reported autism, and hopelessness has remained unarticulated. Therefore, this article combines empirical studies on the incel community with phenomenological and embodiment approaches to autism, hopelessness, and online affectivity. We analyze three interrelated aspects of online interactions in incel communities - worldview, bodily self-relation, and mutual dismissals - and examine how these elements contribute to the consolidation of the loss of significant life possibilities. By investigating the potential negative influence of specific online environments on affective dispositions, our approach contributes to the debate on current challenges to "situate" phenomenological psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanna K. Tirkkonen
- Practical Philosophy, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Daniel Vespermann
- Section of Phenomenological Psychopathology and Psychotherapy, Department of General Psychiatry, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
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Arslanova I, Meletaki V, Calvo-Merino B, Forster B. Perception of facial expressions involves emotion specific somatosensory cortex activations which are shaped by alexithymia. Cortex 2023; 167:223-234. [PMID: 37573853 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Revised: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
Somatosensory cortex (SCx) has been shown to crucially contribute to early perceptual processes when judging other's emotional facial expressions. Here, we investigated the specificity of SCx activity to angry, happy, sad and neutral emotions and the role of personality factors. We assessed participants' alexithymia (TAS-20) and depression (BDI) levels, their cardioceptive abilities and recorded changes in neural activity in a facial emotion judgment task. During the task, we presented tactile probes to reveal neural activity in SCx which was then isolated from visual carry-over responses. We further obtain SCx emotion effects by subtracting SCx activity elicited by neutral emotion expressions from angry, happy, and sad expressions. We find preliminary evidence for distinct modulations of SCx activity to angry and happy expressions. Moreover, the SCx anger response was predicted by individual differences in trait alexithymia. Thus, emotion expressions of others may be distinctly presented in the observer's neural body representation and may be shaped by their personality trait.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irena Arslanova
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Unit, Department of Psychology, City, University of London, UK; Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
| | - Vasiliki Meletaki
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Unit, Department of Psychology, City, University of London, UK
| | - Beatriz Calvo-Merino
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Unit, Department of Psychology, City, University of London, UK
| | - Bettina Forster
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Unit, Department of Psychology, City, University of London, UK.
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Troncoso A, Soto V, Gomila A, Martínez-Pernía D. Moving beyond the lab: investigating empathy through the Empirical 5E approach. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1119469. [PMID: 37519389 PMCID: PMC10374225 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1119469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Empathy is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that plays a crucial role in human social interactions. Recent developments in social neuroscience have provided valuable insights into the neural underpinnings and bodily mechanisms underlying empathy. This methodology often prioritizes precision, replicability, internal validity, and confound control. However, fully understanding the complexity of empathy seems unattainable by solely relying on artificial and controlled laboratory settings, while overlooking a comprehensive view of empathy through an ecological experimental approach. In this article, we propose articulating an integrative theoretical and methodological framework based on the 5E approach (the "E"s stand for embodied, embedded, enacted, emotional, and extended perspectives of empathy), highlighting the relevance of studying empathy as an active interaction between embodied agents, embedded in a shared real-world environment. In addition, we illustrate how a novel multimodal approach including mobile brain and body imaging (MoBi) combined with phenomenological methods, and the implementation of interactive paradigms in a natural context, are adequate procedures to study empathy from the 5E approach. In doing so, we present the Empirical 5E approach (E5E) as an integrative scientific framework to bridge brain/body and phenomenological attributes in an interbody interactive setting. Progressing toward an E5E approach can be crucial to understanding empathy in accordance with the complexity of how it is experienced in the real world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Troncoso
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago, Chile
| | - Vicente Soto
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago, Chile
| | - Antoni Gomila
- Department of Psychology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - David Martínez-Pernía
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago, Chile
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Campos C, Rocha NB, Barbosa F. Dissociating cognitive and affective empathy across psychopathy dimensions: The role of interoception and alexithymia. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1082965. [PMID: 37457066 PMCID: PMC10345207 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1082965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
This study examined the associations between psychopathy dimensions (triarchic phenotypes and classical factors), empathy domains (cognitive and affective), and interoception (interoceptive attention and accuracy) while accounting for the putative role of alexithymia. A community sample (n = 515) completed an online survey encompassing: Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (boldness, meanness, disinhibition); Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (primary and secondary psychopathy); Body Perception Questionnaire (interoceptive attention); Interoceptive Accuracy Scale; Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Hierarchical linear regression models were implemented for hypothesis-driven analyses examining the associations between psychopathy, empathy, and interoception while controlling for sex, age, and alexithymia. Exploratory path models were employed to investigate alexithymia and/or cognitive empathy as mediators between interoception and psychopathy. Our results largely confirmed the postulated empathy profiles across psychopathy dimensions, as meanness and primary psychopathy displayed a broad empathy impairment, while disinhibition and secondary psychopathy were only associated with diminished cognitive empathy. Importantly, boldness displayed a unique pattern (enhanced cognitive empathy and reduced affective empathy), further reinforcing its importance within the constellation of psychopathy traits. Contrary to our hypotheses, self-perceived interoceptive attention and accuracy were not associated with either psychopathy dimension after controlling for alexithymia. However, interoceptive accuracy and alexithymia were associated with cognitive empathy, while alexithymia was also positively related to all psychopathy dimensions (as expected), despite the unexpected strong and negative association with boldness. Exploratory analyses suggested significant indirect effects (mediation) between interoceptive accuracy and psychopathy via alexithymia and/or cognitive empathy. These mediating effects must be interpreted with caution and future studies should be designed to formally test this model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Campos
- Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Neurocognition Group|LabRP, School of Health, Center for Rehabilitation Research, Polytechnic University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Nuno Barbosa Rocha
- School of Health, Center for Translational Health and Medical Biotechnology Research, Polytechnic University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Fernando Barbosa
- Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
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Zelič Ž, Sebastiani L, Santarcangelo EL. Association of Hypnotizability, Interoception, and Emotion. Int J Clin Exp Hypn 2023:1-13. [PMID: 37363858 DOI: 10.1080/00207144.2023.2226188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
The present scoping review reports the reciprocal relations between hypnotizability, interoception, and emotion. Brain morpho-functional differences may account for the lower interoceptive accuracy, higher interoceptive sensitivity, and different emotional strategies observed in highly hypnotizable participants with respect to medium-to-low hypnotizables. Since interoception is relevant to both physical and mental health and hypnotizability can predict both interoceptive abilities and the efficacy of interoception-based mental training, this allows for the development of new forms of treatment and rehabilitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Žan Zelič
- Department of Translational Medicine and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Italy
| | - Laura Sebastiani
- Department of Translational Medicine and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Italy
| | - Enrica Laura Santarcangelo
- Department of Translational Medicine and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Italy
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13
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Baiano C, Job X, Kirsch LP, Auvray M. Interoceptive abilities facilitate taking another's spatial perspective. Sci Rep 2023; 13:10064. [PMID: 37344510 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36173-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Information can be perceived from a multiplicity of spatial perspectives, which is central to effectively understanding and interacting with our environment and other people. Interoception, the sense of the physiological state of our body, is also a fundamental component contributing to our perception. However, whether the perception of our inner body signals influences our ability to adopt and flexibly change between different spatial perspectives remains poorly understood. To investigate this, 90 participants completed tasks assessing multiple dimensions of interoception (interoceptive sensibility, cardiac interoceptive accuracy and awareness) and the Graphesthesia task to assess tactile spatial perspective-taking and its flexibility. The results revealed that higher cardiac interoceptive awareness is associated with greater consistency in adopting a perspective decentred from the self. Second, higher cardiac interoceptive accuracy was associated with slower and less accurate performance in switching from a decentred to an egocentred perspective. These results show that interoceptive abilities facilitate decentred spatial perspective-taking, likely reflecting stronger perceived boundaries between internal states and the external world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Baiano
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 81100, Caserta, Italy
| | - Xavier Job
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Louise P Kirsch
- Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, CNRS, UMR 8002, Université Paris Cité, 45 Rue des Saints Pères, 75006, Paris, France.
| | - Malika Auvray
- Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, ISIR, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, 4 Place Jussieu, 75005, Paris, France.
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14
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Imafuku M, Yoshimoto H, Hiraki K. Infants' interoception is associated with eye contact in dyadic social interactions. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9520. [PMID: 37336917 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35851-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Interoception, that is, the perception of visceral stimuli, is the basis of socio-emotional development. However, no studies have demonstrated the relationship between the two in infants. This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between interoception and social behavior in infants and mothers. Visual preference for cardio-visual synchronous and asynchronous stimuli was assessed using a preferential-looking paradigm in 6-month infants and their mothers. The infant-mother interaction was also measured to assess social behavior, such as eye contact and positive facial expressions. The results showed that infants looked at asynchronous cardio-visual stimuli longer than synchronous cardio-visual stimuli, whereas mothers looked at synchronous cardio-visual stimuli longer than asynchronous cardio-visual stimuli. The proportion of looking time toward asynchronous cardio-visual stimuli in infants was positively correlated with infant-mother gaze and affect (positive facial expression) synchrony. Furthermore, mediation analyses showed that the relationship between infants' interoception and eye contact behavior is attributable to mother's positive facial expression. Our findings suggest that in infant-mother interactions, infants' interoception may play a role in eye contact behavior through the mother's positive facial expression, highlighting the importance of infants' interoception on social cognitive development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masahiro Imafuku
- Department of Early Childhood Education and Care, Faculty of Education, Musashino University, 1-1-20 Shin-Machi, Nishitokyo-Shi, Tokyo, 202-8585, Japan.
| | - Hiromasa Yoshimoto
- Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-Ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan
| | - Kazuo Hiraki
- Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-Ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan
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15
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Koreki A, Mashima Y, Oda A, Koizumi T, Koyanagi K, Onaya M. You are already dead: Case report of nihilistic delusions regarding others as one representation of Cotard's syndrome. PCN REPORTS : PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES 2023; 2:e93. [PMID: 38868142 PMCID: PMC11114400 DOI: 10.1002/pcn5.93] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2023] [Revised: 03/25/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2024]
Abstract
Background While the symptom of "I am already dead" is a hallmark of Cotard's syndrome, also known as nihilistic delusions, the symptom of "you are already dead" has been neglected. Case presentation A woman aged in her 60s diagnosed with schizophrenia was admitted to our hospital for psychotic symptoms, including delusions of reference, delusions of guilt, auditory hallucinations, cenesthetic hallucinations, agitation, depression, suicidal ideation, and catatonia. During hospitalization, her cenesthetic hallucinations progressed to include nihilistic delusions. She described cenesthetic hallucinations along with various delusional descriptions, including the belief that various objects, such as spoons, irons, nails, rulers, bins, and coins, were inside her body and that her body was being burned or in danger of exploding. She also claimed an altered sense of her own body, that her body was larger than normal or reversed. Moreover, she reported nihilistic delusions that her face and body did not exist, that her heart was not functioning, and that she was going to die soon or was already dead. She occasionally refused to eat because of the feeling of being dead. Notably, during a severe episode, she claimed that a doctor in front of her was dead. Clozapine was effective in improving her symptoms. Ultimately, the patient regained her sense of being alive and acknowledged that the doctor was alive. Conclusion We report the case of a patient presenting with nihilistic delusions regarding both self and others, along with prior cenesthetic hallucinations. Aberrant interoceptive processing could be a potential link between these two forms of nihilistic delusions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akihiro Koreki
- Department of PsychiatryNational Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical CenterChibaJapan
| | - Yuki Mashima
- Department of PsychiatryNational Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical CenterChibaJapan
| | - Akihiko Oda
- Department of PsychiatryNational Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical CenterChibaJapan
| | - Teruki Koizumi
- Department of PsychiatryNational Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical CenterChibaJapan
| | - Kazuhiro Koyanagi
- Department of PsychiatryNational Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical CenterChibaJapan
| | - Mitsumoto Onaya
- Department of PsychiatryNational Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical CenterChibaJapan
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16
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Butera CD, Harrison L, Kilroy E, Jayashankar A, Pruyser A, Shipkova M, Aziz-Zadeh L. Relationships between alexithymia, interoception, and emotional empathy in autism spectrum disorder. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2023; 27:690-703. [PMID: 35833505 PMCID: PMC9839896 DOI: 10.1177/13623613221111310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT Empathy, the ability to understand and share the emotions of others, is a necessary skill for social functioning and can be categorized into cognitive and emotional empathy. There is evidence to suggest that individuals with autism spectrum disorder have difficulties with cognitive empathy, the ability to imagine how another person is thinking or feeling. However, it is unclear if individuals with autism spectrum disorder struggle with emotional empathy, the ability to share and feel emotions others are experiencing. Self-report and interview data were collected to explore the relationships between interoception (individuals' self-reported awareness of sensation from their body such as thirst, heartbeat, etc.), alexithymia (an individual's ability to describe and distinguish between their own emotions), and emotional empathy in 35 youth with autism spectrum disorder and 40 typically developing youth. Greater personal distress to others' emotions and greater difficulty describing and recognizing self-emotions were associated with reporting fewer physical sensations in the body when experiencing emotion in the autism spectrum disorder group. The results of this study suggest that while autism spectrum disorder youth with concomitant alexithymia may experience emotional empathy differently, it should not be characterized as an absence of a capacity for emotional empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christiana D. Butera
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Laura Harrison
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Emily Kilroy
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Aditya Jayashankar
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ariel Pruyser
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michelle Shipkova
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Lisa Aziz-Zadeh
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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17
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Contreras-Huerta LS, Coll MP, Bird G, Yu H, Prosser A, Lockwood PL, Murphy J, Crockett MJ, Apps MAJ. Neural representations of vicarious rewards are linked to interoception and prosocial behaviour. Neuroimage 2023; 269:119881. [PMID: 36702212 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Every day we constantly observe other people receiving rewards. Theoretical accounts posit that vicarious reward processing might be linked to people's sensitivity to internal body states (interoception) and facilitates a tendency to act prosocially. However, the neural processes underlying the links between vicarious reward processing, interoception, and prosocial behaviour are poorly understood. Previous research has linked vicarious reward processing to the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACCg) and the anterior insula (AI). Can we predict someone's propensity to be prosocial or to be aware of interoceptive signals from variability in how the ACCg and AI process rewards? Here, participants monitored rewards being delivered to themselves or a stranger during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Later, they performed a task measuring their willingness to exert effort to obtain rewards for others, and a task measuring their propensity to be aware and use interoceptive respiratory signals. Using multivariate similarity analysis, we show that people's willingness to be prosocial is predicted by greater similarity between self and other representations in the ACCg. Moreover, greater dissimilarity in self-other representations in the AI is linked to interoceptive propensity. These findings highlight that vicarious reward is linked to bodily signals in AI, and foster prosocial tendencies through the ACCg.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Sebastian Contreras-Huerta
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PH, UK; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK; Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; Institute for Mental Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Viña del Mar, Chile.
| | - Michel-Pierre Coll
- School of Psychology and CIRRIS research center, Laval University, Quebec City QC G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - Geoffrey Bird
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PH, UK; School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Hongbo Yu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Annayah Prosser
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, BA2 7AY, United Kingdom
| | - Patricia L Lockwood
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PH, UK; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK; Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; Institute for Mental Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; Christ Church, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 1DP, UK
| | - Jennifer Murphy
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London TW20 0EY, UK
| | - M J Crockett
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PH, UK; Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Psychology and University Center for Human Values, Princeton University, Princeton, USA
| | - Matthew A J Apps
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PH, UK; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK; Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; Institute for Mental Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; Christ Church, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 1DP, UK.
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18
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Butera C, Kaplan J, Kilroy E, Harrison L, Jayashankar A, Loureiro F, Aziz-Zadeh L. The relationship between alexithymia, interoception, and neural functional connectivity during facial expression processing in autism spectrum disorder. Neuropsychologia 2023; 180:108469. [PMID: 36610493 PMCID: PMC9898240 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Revised: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Neural processing differences of emotional facial expressions, while common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), may be related to co-occurring alexithymia and interoceptive processing differences rather than autism per se. Here, we investigate relationships between alexithymia, interoceptive awareness of emotions, and functional connectivity during observation of facial expressions in youth (aged 8-17) with ASD (n = 28) compared to typically developing peers (TD; n = 37). Behaviorally, we found no significant differences between ASD and TD groups in interoceptive awareness of emotions, though alexithymia severity was significantly higher in the ASD group. In the ASD group, increased alexithymia was significantly correlated with lower interoceptive sensation felt during emotion. Using psycho-physiological interaction (PPI) analysis, the ASD group showed higher functional connectivity between the left ventral anterior insula and the left lateral prefrontal cortex than the TD group when viewing facial expressions. Further, alexithymia was associated with reduced left anterior insula-right precuneus connectivity and reduced right dorsal anterior insula-left ventral anterior insula connectivity when viewing facial expressions. In the ASD group, the degree of interoceptive sensation felt during emotion was positively correlated with left ventral anterior insula-right IFG connectivity when viewing facial expressions. However, across all participants, neither alexithymia nor interoceptive awareness of emotions predicted connectivity between emotion-related brain regions when viewing emotional facial expressions. To summarize, we found that in ASD compared to TD: 1) there is stronger connectivity between the insula and lateral prefrontal cortex; and 2) differences in interhemispheric and within left hemisphere connectivity between the insula and other emotion-related brain regions are related to individual differences in interoceptive processing and alexithymia. These results highlight complex relationships between alexithymia, interoception, and brain processing in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christiana Butera
- Brain & Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA; Division of Occupational Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Jonas Kaplan
- Brain & Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Emily Kilroy
- Brain & Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA; Division of Occupational Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Laura Harrison
- Brain & Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA; Division of Occupational Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Aditya Jayashankar
- Brain & Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA; Division of Occupational Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Fernanda Loureiro
- Brain & Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Lisa Aziz-Zadeh
- Brain & Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA; Division of Occupational Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
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19
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Azevedo RT, von Mohr M, Tsakiris M. From the Viscera to First Impressions: Phase-Dependent Cardio-Visual Signals Bias the Perceived Trustworthiness of Faces. Psychol Sci 2023; 34:120-131. [PMID: 36322944 DOI: 10.1177/09567976221131519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
When we see new people, we rapidly form first impressions. Whereas past research has focused on the role of morphological or emotional cues, we asked whether transient visceral states bias the impressions we form. Across three studies (N = 94 university students), we investigated how fluctuations of bodily states, driven by the interoceptive impact of cardiac signals, influence the perceived trustworthiness of faces. Participants less often chose faces presented in synchrony with their own cardiac systole as more trustworthy than faces presented out of synchrony. Participants also explicitly judged faces presented in synchrony with their cardiac systole as less trustworthy. Finally, the presentation of faces in synchrony with participants' cardiac diastole did not modulate participants' perceptions of the faces' trustworthiness, suggesting that the systolic phase is necessary for such interoceptive effects. These findings highlight the role of phasic interoceptive information in the processing of social information and provide a mechanistic account of the role of visceroception for social perception.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mariana von Mohr
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London.,Centre for the Politics of Feelings, School of Advanced Study, University of London
| | - Manos Tsakiris
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London.,Centre for the Politics of Feelings, School of Advanced Study, University of London
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20
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The bodily fundament of empathy: The role of action, nonaction-oriented, and interoceptive body representations. Psychon Bull Rev 2022:10.3758/s13423-022-02231-9. [PMID: 36510091 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-022-02231-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Mental representations with bodily contents or in various bodily formats have been suggested to play a pivotal role in social cognition, including empathy. However, there is a lack of systematic studies investigating, in the same sample of participants and using an individual differences approach, whether and to what extent the sensorimotor, perceptual, and interoceptive representations of the body could fulfill an explanatory role in the empathic abilities.To address this goal, we carried out two studies in which healthy adults were given measures of interoceptive sensibility (IS), action (aBR), and nonaction-oriented body representations (NaBR), and affective, cognitive, and motor empathy. A higher tendency to be self-focused on interoceptive signals predicted higher affective, cognitive, and motor empathy levels. A better performance in tasks probing aBR and NaBR predicted, respectively, higher motor and cognitive empathy levels.These findings support the view that the various facets of the empathic response are differently grounded in the body since they diversely involve representations with a different bodily format.Individual differences in the focus on one's internal body state representation can directly modulate all the components of the empathic experience. Instead, a body representation used interpersonally to represent both one's own body and others' bodies, in particular in its spatial specificity, could be necessary to accurately understand other people's minds (cognitive empathy), while a sensorimotor body representation used to represent both one's own body and others' bodies actions, could be fundamental for the self-awareness of feelings expressed in actions (motor empathy).
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21
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Canino S, Raimo S, Boccia M, Di Vita A, Palermo L. On the Embodiment of Social Cognition Skills: The Inner and Outer Body Processing Differently Contributes to the Affective and Cognitive Theory of Mind. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12111423. [PMID: 36358350 PMCID: PMC9688437 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12111423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
A specific interpretation of embodiment assigns a central role to the body representations (BR) in cognition. In the social cognition domain, BR could be pivotal in representing others’ actions and states. However, empirical evidence on the relationship between different BR and social cognition, in terms of Theory of Mind (ToM), in the same sample of participants is missing. Here, this relationship was explored considering individual differences in the action-oriented BR (aBR), nonaction-oriented BR (NaBR), and subjective predisposition toward internal bodily sensations (interoceptive sensibility, ISe). Eighty-two healthy adults were given behavioral measures probing aBR, NaBR, ISe, and affective/cognitive ToM. The results suggest that NaBR, which mainly relies on exteroceptive signals, predicts individual differences in cognitive ToM, possibly because it can allow differentiating between the self and others. Instead, the negative association between affective ToM and ISe suggests that an alteration of the internal body state representation (i.e., over-reporting interoceptive sensations) can affect emotional processing in social contexts. The finding that distinct aspects of the body processing from within (ISe) and from the outside (NaBR) differently contribute to ToM provides empirical support to the BR role in social cognition and can be relevant for developing interventions in clinical settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Canino
- Department of Health Sciences, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy
- Correspondence: (S.C.); (L.P.)
| | - Simona Raimo
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Maddalena Boccia
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Antonella Di Vita
- Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Liana Palermo
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy
- Correspondence: (S.C.); (L.P.)
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22
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Embodied feelings-A meta-analysis on the relation of emotion intensity perception and interoceptive accuracy. Physiol Behav 2022; 254:113904. [PMID: 35820627 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Revised: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Emotion theories emphasize the relevance of (predicted) bodily changes for the construction of one's own emotions and an extensive overlap of brain regions involved during emotion intensity perception and somatosensory processing. The ability to accurately perceive bodily changes and its impact on the perception of emotion intensity has been studied for at least 40 years. The results of previous studies were summarized in a meta-analysis to examine how closely interoceptive accuracy and emotion intensity are related. After a systematic literature search, 4036 studies were screened for eligibility. Only studies assessing adults from general population samples were considered. Samples recruited to examine mental disorders or neurological conditions were excluded. Thirty studies with a quantifiable measure for the relation of interoceptive accuracy and emotion intensity perception were included in the meta-analysis. Interoceptive accuracy was significantly related with emotion intensity perception, when emotions were experimentally induced (k= 22, r= 0.15). However, the relationship was only found when IAPS images (k= 9, r= 0.33) or facial expressions (k= 3, r= 0.24) were used for emotion induction. No significant relation was found in studies without emotion induction (k= 19, r = -0.007). There was considerable bias, varying dependent on bias assessment method, study protocol and examined risk of bias dimension. We discuss the impact of differences in study protocols, review the operationalization of interoceptive accuracy critically and derive directions for future research.
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23
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Kim KI, Jung WH, Woo CW, Kim H. Neural signatures of individual variability in context-dependent perception of ambiguous facial expression. Neuroimage 2022; 258:119355. [PMID: 35660000 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Revised: 05/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
How do we incorporate contextual information to infer others' emotional state? Here we employed a naturalistic context-dependent facial expression estimation task where participants estimated pleasantness levels of others' ambiguous expression faces when sniffing different contextual cues (e.g., urine, fish, water, and rose). Based on their pleasantness rating data, we placed participants on a context-dependency continuum and mapped the individual variability in the context-dependency onto the neural representation using a representational similarity analysis. We found that the individual variability in the context-dependency of facial expression estimation correlated with the activity level of the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC) and the amygdala and was also decoded by the neural representation of the ventral anterior insula (vAI). A dynamic causal modeling revealed that those with higher context-dependency exhibited a greater degree of the modulation from vAI to the pgACC. These findings provide novel insights into the neural circuitry associated with the individual variability in context-dependent facial expression estimation and the first empirical evidence for individual variability in the predictive accounts of affective states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kun Il Kim
- School of Psychology, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Wi Hoon Jung
- Department of Psychology, Gachon University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Choong-Wan Woo
- Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea; Department of Intelligent Precision Healthcare Convergence, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea
| | - Hackjin Kim
- School of Psychology, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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24
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Schillings C, Karanassios G, Schulte N, Schultchen D, Pollatos O. The Effects of a 3-Week Heartbeat Perception Training on Interoceptive Abilities. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:838055. [PMID: 35615275 PMCID: PMC9124832 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.838055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies showed promising short-term effects of heartbeat perception training on interoceptive abilities. Research on the effects of heartbeat perception training on interoceptive abilities over time is sparse. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the short-term effects and the effects of a 3-week heartbeat perception training over time on interoceptive abilities, namely, cardiac interoceptive accuracy (IAc) and interoceptive sensibility (IS). A total of 40 healthy participants were randomized to the intervention group (n = 20) or the control group (n = 20). The intervention group conducted three cardiac biofeedback sessions (one per week) at the laboratory, whereas the control group watched a documentary instead. Interoceptive abilities were assessed via the heartbeat perception task (IAc) and confidence ratings (IS) at baseline, after each laboratory session, and 1 week after the last session (post-measurement). IAc was significantly increased in the intervention group compared to the control group after the first training session (short-term effect). There were no significant improvements in IS due to the first session, and neither on IAc nor IS over time. Descriptive trends of improved interoceptive abilities over time were found in both groups. Single session of heartbeat perception training seems to be a promising approach to improve IAc. Future research should further investigate the long-term effects of diverse heartbeat perception training varying in frequency and intensity of the training sessions in diverse samples aiming to improve interoceptive abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Schillings
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Engineering, Computer Science and Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- *Correspondence: Christine Schillings,
| | - Georgios Karanassios
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Engineering, Computer Science and Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Niklas Schulte
- Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, Faculty of Engineering, Compurter Science and Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Dana Schultchen
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Engineering, Computer Science and Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Olga Pollatos
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Engineering, Computer Science and Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
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Mothers' interoceptive sensibility mediates affective interaction between mother and infant. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6273. [PMID: 35428844 PMCID: PMC9011379 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09988-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2021] [Accepted: 03/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Interoceptive sensibility, which denotes the self-perceived sensitivity to inner-body sensations, has been associated with the emotional experiences and inferences of others’ emotional states. Focusing on the role of interoceptive sensibility in the emotional states and psychological well-being of mothers during caregiving, this study explores how physiological arousal and interoceptive sensibility mediate the association between mother–infant interaction and maternal well-being using an experience sampling method. Infant-directed-singing (IDS) with social touch was used to facilitate mother–infant interaction. Pairs of 2–8-month-old infants and their mothers participated. Mothers in an IDS group (N = 25) and a no-IDS group (N = 26) recorded their and the infant’s daily feelings and physiological states using a smartphone application for one month. All participants, including the control group (N = 78) who neither performed IDS nor used the application, answered the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness questionnaire before and after the recording period. Results indicated that IDS improved mother–infant interactions and positive feelings, enhancing maternal physiological arousal. Increased interoceptive sensibility enhanced infants’ positive feelings in the IDS group, whereas in the no-IDS group, it weakened mother’s positive feelings, suggesting that maternal interoceptive sensibility mediated the effects of IDS on mother and infant well-being.
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26
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Angioletti L, Tormen F, Balconi M. Judgment and Embodied Cognition of Lawyers. Moral Decision-Making and Interoceptive Physiology in the Legal Field. Front Psychol 2022; 13:853342. [PMID: 35401313 PMCID: PMC8987697 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.853342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Past research showed that the ability to focus on one’s internal states (e.g., interoceptive ability) positively correlates with the self-regulation of behavior in situations that are accompanied by somatic and/or physiological changes, such as emotions, physical workload, and decision-making. The analysis of moral oriented decision-making can be the first step for better understanding the legal reasoning carried on by the main players in the field, as lawyers are. For this reason, this study investigated the influence of the decision context and interoceptive manipulation on the moral decision-making process in the legal field gathering the responses of two groups of lawyers. A total of 20 lawyers were randomly divided into an experimental group (EXP), which was explicitly required to focus the attention on its interoceptive correlates, and a control group (CON), which only received the general instruction to perform the task. Both groups underwent a modified version of the Ultimatum Game (UG), where are presented three different moral conditions (professional, company, and social) and three different offers (fair, unfair, and equal). Results highlighted a significant increase of Acceptance Rate (AR) in those offers that should be considered more equal than fair or unfair ones, associated with a general increase of Reaction Times (RTs) in the equal offers. Furthermore, the interoceptive manipulation oriented the Lawyers toward a more self-centered decision. This study shows how individual, situational, contextual, and interoceptive factors may influence the moral decision-making of lawyers. Future research in the so-called Neurolaw field is needed to replicate and expand current findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Angioletti
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
- Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
- *Correspondence: Laura Angioletti,
| | - Federico Tormen
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
- Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
| | - Michela Balconi
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
- Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
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27
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Angioletti L, Balconi M. Interoceptive attentiveness and autonomic reactivity in pain observation. Somatosens Mot Res 2021; 39:81-89. [PMID: 34847833 DOI: 10.1080/08990220.2021.2005016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Aim: This study explores interoceptive attentiveness (IA) influence on autonomic reactivity related to pain and self-regulation during situations evoking physiological mirroring for pain.Methods: 20 participants observed face/hand, painful/non-painful stimuli in an individual versus social condition while the autonomic response was measured [Electrodermal activity, Pulse Volume Amplitude (PVA), and Heart Rate (HR)] was measured. The sample was divided into experimental (EXP) subjects, required to focus on their interoceptive correlates while observing the stimuli, and the control (CNT) group. HR inter-beat interval (IBI), and HR Variability (HRV) were calculated.Results: Results showed high accuracy to painful and non-painful stimuli recognition. Regarding autonomic indices, higher PVA values were detected for hand painful versus non-painful stimuli, whereas for the EXP group a significant activation of IBI was found for face painful vs non-painful stimuli.Conclusion: In the context of observation of pain in others, PVA and IBI could be respectively markers of mirroring mechanisms and autonomic self-regulation mediated by IA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Angioletti
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy.,Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy
| | - Michela Balconi
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy.,Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy
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28
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Taking the pulse of social cognition: Cardiac afferent activity and interoceptive accuracy modulate emotional egocentricity bias. Cortex 2021; 145:327-340. [PMID: 34794068 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 10/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
At the heart of social cognition is our ability to distinguish between self and other and correctly attribute mental and affective states to their origin. Emotional egocentricity bias (EEB) reflects the tendency to use one's own emotional state when relating to others. Although interoception underpins our emotional experience, little is known about its role on how we affectively relate to others. Here, we assessed how cardiac interoceptive impact, manipulated by presenting affective stimuli across different phases of the cardiac cycle coupled with trait-like levels of interoceptive accuracy, modulate the EEB. Individuals with higher interoceptive accuracy displayed an increased EEB when the other's emotional state was presented at the point of maximum interoceptive impact (i.e., at systole), whereas the reverse was observed for individuals with lower interoceptive accuracy. These findings show how interoceptive activity provides the physiological context within which we process other's emotional states in parallel to ours.
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29
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Baiano C, Job X, Santangelo G, Auvray M, Kirsch LP. Interactions between interoception and perspective-taking: Current state of research and future directions. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 130:252-262. [PMID: 34400177 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Revised: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/07/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Interoception, the sense of the physiological state of the body, and perspective-taking, the ability to take another's point of view, are two fundamental components contributing to our perception and interaction with the external world. However, whether the perception of our inner body influences how we perceive the external world and other people remains poorly understood. Here, we review recent behavioural and neuroimaging evidence investigating the links between dimensions of interoception (i.e., accuracy, sensibility and awareness) and perspective-taking (i.e., affective, cognitive and visual). So far, only a limited subset of these dimensions has been investigated together and the results suggest that interoceptive abilities may only interact with perspective-taking when embodied mental transformations are required. Furthermore, mainly the emotional aspects of perspective-taking are related to interoception, influencing the ability to empathise with others. Future research should systematically investigate the links between all dimensions of interoception and perspective-taking to provide full understanding of the specific role interoception has on how we perceive the world and take another's point of view.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Baiano
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Caserta, Italy.
| | - Xavier Job
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Gabriella Santangelo
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Caserta, Italy
| | - Malika Auvray
- Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.
| | - Louise P Kirsch
- Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.
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30
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Carro N, D'Adamo P, Lozada M. A School Intervention Helps Decrease Daily Stress While Enhancing Social Integration in Children. Behav Med 2021; 47:251-258. [PMID: 32275198 DOI: 10.1080/08964289.2020.1738319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Stress coping is highly relevant during childhood. This study analyses how the participation in a behavioral intervention involving mindfulness-based practices and empathic collaboration activities impact on diurnal cortisol rhythm and social integration in children. In both experimental and waitlist groups, we evaluated before and after the intervention: daily stress, by sampling salivary cortisol at three measurement time-points, and social integration, assessed by a social preference index. Daily average cortisol (DAC) and the area under the curve (AUC) differed when comparing pre-post intervention values in both groups: in the experimental group these measures decreased while in the waitlist group DAC and AUC increased. At the end of the intervention, the experimental group showed an enhancement in the social preference index whereas this parameter diminished in the waitlist group. This kind of behavioral intervention seems to be effective at reducing daily stress and improving social integration in Primary School children.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Carro
- INIBIOMA-CONICET, National University of Comahue, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
| | - P D'Adamo
- IPEHCS-CONICET, National University of Comahue, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
| | - M Lozada
- INIBIOMA-CONICET, National University of Comahue, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
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31
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Wu J, Li H, Wu Y. Trait and State: Interoceptive Accuracy during Anticipation of Public Speaking in Junior Secondary Shy Students from an Eastern Province of China. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18094951. [PMID: 34066558 PMCID: PMC8124417 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18094951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Revised: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated the interoceptive accuracy (IAc) of shy adolescents during anticipation of public speaking with a 2 × 2 factorial design. Altogether, 637 junior secondary students in an eastern province of China were sampled and screened with the Chinese version of Cheek and Buss shyness scale. The top 27% of students were considered the shy group (n = 30, 16 girls, Mage = 13.03, SD = 0.67), whereas the bottom 27% were labelled the non-shy group (n = 31, 16 girls, Mage = 13.16, SD = 0.86). The two groups of participants estimated their heart rates during specified intervals using a mental tracking paradigm in two conditions (baseline vs. anticipation), while their actual heart rates were simultaneously measured. The results indicated that: (1) the shy adolescents were more accurate in estimating their actual heart rate than non-shy adolescents; and (2) both shy and non-shy adolescents exhibit enhanced IAc in anticipation conditions when compared with baseline conditions. Implications of the higher IAc of shy adolescents and the state feature of IAc are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianfen Wu
- School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
- Correspondence:
| | - Hui Li
- School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia;
| | - Yunpeng Wu
- School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Ji’nan 250014, China;
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32
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Botan V, Critchley HD, Ward J. Different psychophysiological and clinical symptoms are linked to affective versus sensory vicarious pain experiences. Psychophysiology 2021; 58:e13826. [PMID: 33942318 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Revised: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
For some people, seeing pain in others triggers a pain-like experience in themselves: these experiences can either be described in sensory terms and localized to specific body parts (sensory-localized, or S/L) or in affective terms and nonlocalized or whole-body experiences (affective-general, or A/G). In two studies, it is shown that these are linked to different clinical and psychophysiological profiles relative to controls. Study 1 shows that the A/G profile is linked to symptoms of Blood-Injection-Injury Phobia whereas the S/L profile shows some tendency toward eating disorders. Study 2 shows that the A/G profile is linked to poor interoceptive accuracy (for heartbeat detection) whereas the S/L profile is linked to higher heart-rate variability (HRV) when observing pain, which is typically regarded as an index of good autonomic emotion regulation. Neither group showed significant differences in overall heart rate, systolic blood pressure (SBP), or skin conductance response (SCR) when observing pain, and no overall differences in state or trait anxiety. Overall, the research points to different underlying mechanisms linked to different manifestations of vicarious pain response. Affective-General pain responders have strong subjective bodily experiences (likely of central origin given the absence of major differences in autonomic responsiveness) coupled with a worse ability to read objective interoceptive signals. Sensory-localized pain responders have differences in their ability to construct a multi-sensory body schema (as evidenced by prior research on the Rubber Hand Illusion) coupled with enhanced cardiovagal (parasympathetic) reactivity often indicative of better stress adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Botan
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, East Sussex, UK.,Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - H D Critchley
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, East Sussex, UK.,Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.,Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK
| | - J Ward
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, East Sussex, UK.,Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
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33
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Balconi M, Angioletti L. One's Interoception Affects the Representation of Seeing Others' Pain: A Randomized Controlled qEEG Study. Pain Res Manag 2021; 2021:5585060. [PMID: 33884043 PMCID: PMC8041555 DOI: 10.1155/2021/5585060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Revised: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Objective This research demonstrates that interoceptive attentiveness (IA) can modulate cortical oscillations related to the emotional and cognitive representations of observing pain in others. Methods Twenty participants were required to observe painful/nonpainful stimuli in an individual versus the interactive condition during the recording of the electroencephalogram. The sample was divided into experimental (EXP) and control (CTR) groups, and the EXP group was explicitly required to direct the attention on its interoceptive correlates while observing the stimuli. Results Mixed repeated measures, analyses of variance, were applied to each EEG frequency band. Significant findings were obtained mainly for theta and beta bands for the two groups. A hemispheric lateralisation effect was found, with right lateralisation of the theta band for the EXP group when observing painful stimuli and enhanced left activation of theta and beta bands for the CTR group when observing nonpainful stimuli. For both groups, frontal cortical regions were significantly sensitive to social scenarios, while posterior parietal activation was found for stimuli depicting the individual condition. Conclusions The results suggest that IA might enhance the emotional representation of painful stimuli, highlighting their negative and unpleasant features in the EXP group, while the attention of the CTR group was mainly drawn to nonpainful stimuli in social and individual conditions, with a positive valence. The role of frontal regions in the processing of social stimuli through social cognition, inducing emotional mirroring and requiring deeper analysis of the social context, was underlined. We propose that IA could be trained for promoting emotion regulation and empathic response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michela Balconi
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy
- Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy
| | - Laura Angioletti
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy
- Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy
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Heydrich L, Walker F, Blättler L, Herbelin B, Blanke O, Aspell JE. Interoception and Empathy Impact Perspective Taking. Front Psychol 2021; 11:599429. [PMID: 33536971 PMCID: PMC7848222 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.599429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2020] [Accepted: 12/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Adopting the perspective of another person is an important aspect of social cognition and has been shown to depend on multisensory signals from one's own body. Recent work suggests that interoceptive signals not only contribute to own-body perception and self-consciousness, but also to empathy. Here we investigated if social cognition - in particular adopting the perspective of another person - can be altered by a systematic manipulation of interoceptive cues and further, if this effect depends on empathic ability. The own-body transformation task (OBT) - wherein participants are instructed to imagine taking the perspective and position of a virtual body presented on a computer screen - offers an effective way to measure reaction time differences linked to the mental effort of taking an other's perspective. Here, we adapted the OBT with the flashing of a silhouette surrounding the virtual body, either synchronously or asynchronously with the timing of participants' heartbeats. We evaluated the impact of this cardio-visual synchrony on reaction times and accuracy rates in the OBT. Empathy was assessed with the empathy quotient (EQ) questionnaire. Based on previous work using the cardio-visual paradigm, we predicted that synchronous (vs. asynchronous) cardio-visual stimulation would increase self-identification with the virtual body and facilitate participants' ability to adopt the virtual body's perspective, thereby enhancing performance on the task, particularly in participants with higher empathy scores. We report that participants with high empathy showed significantly better performance during the OBT task during synchronous versus asynchronous cardio-visual stimulation. Moreover, we found a significant positive correlation between empathic ability and the synchrony effect (the difference in reaction times between the asynchronous and synchronous conditions). We conclude that synchronous cardio-visual stimulation between the participant's body and a virtual body during an OBT task makes it easier to adopt the virtual body's perspective, presumably based on multisensory integration processes. However, this effect depended on empathic ability, suggesting that empathy, interoception and social perspective taking are inherently linked.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas Heydrich
- CORE Lab, Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain-Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Francesco Walker
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain-Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Larissa Blättler
- Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Bruno Herbelin
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain-Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Olaf Blanke
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain-Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Department of Neurology, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Jane Elizabeth Aspell
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain-Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,School of Psychology and Sport Science, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Did my heart just leap or sink? The role of personality for the relation between cardiac interoception and well-being. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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Can changes in multidimensional self-reported interoception be considered as outcome predictors in severely depressed patients? A moderation and mediation analysis. J Psychosom Res 2021; 141:110331. [PMID: 33338695 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2020.110331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Revised: 12/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Somatic complaints (e.g. pain) and abnormal self-reported interoception (e.g. maladaptive bodily self-focus) are common features of major depressive disorder (MDD) with sex-specific manifestations. Whereas somatic symptoms are associated with adverse clinical outcomes (e.g. residual symptoms), studies are scarce investigating the role of interoception as an outcome predictor for specific hospital treatment of MDD. Therefore, multivariate associations between changes in multidimensional self-reported interoception, somatic symptoms, and clinical improvements are explored by hypothesizing interactions with sex and an interoceptive mechanism. METHODS In this naturalistic study, 87 hospitalized participants suffering from MDD completed questionnaires at pre- and post-treatment assessing multidimensional self-reported interoception (MAIA-2), somatic symptom burden (SCL-90-S® SOMA), and depression severity (BDI-II). We performed a multiple hierarchical regression analysis to test for interaction effects. The mediation hypothesis was path-analytically tested in a parallel mediation model by bootstrapping confidence intervals for (in)direct effects. RESULTS Improvements in self-reported interoception independently predicted positive treatment response, ΔRadj2=8.61%, ΔF(8, 74) = 3.23, p < .01. Prediction effects were moderated by sex, ΔRadj2=5.54%, ΔF(8, 66) = 2.22, p < .05. Post-hoc analyses revealed significant effects of body confidence in women, B = -4.26, t(28) = -2.78, p < .01, and of self-regulation in men, B = -3.21, t(17) = -2.27, p < .05. Effects of somatic symptom relief on treatment outcome were partially mediated by self-reported interoception, total indirect = 2.94 [95% BCa CI 0.99, 5.69]. CONCLUSION Interoception patterns changed significantly and predicted outcome of hospital treatment in severely depressed patients. Our study could imply the need to consider body sensations additionally as a target for antidepressive treatments. The development of tailored interoceptive interventions in depressive patients represents a promising vision for the future.
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Imafuku M, Fukushima H, Nakamura Y, Myowa M, Koike S. Interoception is associated with the impact of eye contact on spontaneous facial mimicry. Sci Rep 2020; 10:19866. [PMID: 33199748 PMCID: PMC7670470 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76393-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2019] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Interoception (perception of one’s own physiological state) has been suggested to underpin social cognition, although the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. The current study aimed to elucidate the relationship between interoception and two factors underlying social cognition: self-other boundary and sensitivity to social cues. We measured performance in a heartbeat perception task as an index of interoceptive accuracy (IAc), the frequency of spontaneous facial mimicry (SFM) as an index of self-other boundary, and the degree of the effect of eye contact on SFM (difference in SFM between conditions in which models’ eyes were directed to and averted from participants) as an index of social-cue sensitivity, and tested correlations among these measures. The results revealed that IAc and SFM were positively correlated only in the direct gaze condition. The extent of the effect of eye contact on SFM (difference in frequency between direct vs. averted conditions) was positively correlated with IAc. These overall findings were also observed in separate analyses of male and female participant groups, supporting the robustness of the findings. The results suggest that interoception is related to sensitivity to social cues, and may also be related to the self-other boundary with modulation by social context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masahiro Imafuku
- Faculty of Education, Musashino University, 1-1-20 Shin-machi, Nishitokyo-shi, Tokyo, 202-8585, Japan.
| | - Hirokata Fukushima
- Faculty of Sociology, Kansai University, 3-3-35 Yamate-cho, Suita, Osaka, 564-8680, Japan.
| | - Yuko Nakamura
- Center for Evolutionary Cognitive Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan.,Center for Integrative Science of Human Behavior, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan
| | - Masako Myowa
- Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Shinsuke Koike
- Center for Evolutionary Cognitive Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan.,Center for Integrative Science of Human Behavior, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan.,University of Tokyo Institute for Diversity & Adaptation of Human Mind (UTIDAHM), 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan.,The International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN) at The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS), 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8654, Japan
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38
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Dirupo G, Corradi-Dell’Acqua C, Kashef M, Debbané M, Badoud D. The role of interoception in understanding others' affect. Dissociation between superficial and detailed appraisal of facial expressions. Cortex 2020; 130:16-31. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2019] [Revised: 11/13/2019] [Accepted: 05/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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39
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Italian Version of the Scale of Body Connection: Validation and Correlations with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Complement Ther Med 2020; 51:102400. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2020.102400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Revised: 03/31/2020] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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40
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Hample K, Mahler K, Amspacher A. An Interoception-Based Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study. JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY, SCHOOLS, & EARLY INTERVENTION 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/19411243.2020.1743221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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41
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Fittipaldi S, Abrevaya S, Fuente ADL, Pascariello GO, Hesse E, Birba A, Salamone P, Hildebrandt M, Martí SA, Pautassi RM, Huepe D, Martorell MM, Yoris A, Roca M, García AM, Sedeño L, Ibáñez A. A multidimensional and multi-feature framework for cardiac interoception. Neuroimage 2020; 212:116677. [PMID: 32101777 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2019] [Revised: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Interoception (the sensing of inner-body signals) is a multi-faceted construct with major relevance for basic and clinical neuroscience research. However, the neurocognitive signatures of this domain (cutting across behavioral, electrophysiological, and fMRI connectivity levels) are rarely reported in convergent or systematic fashion. Additionally, various controversies in the field might reflect the caveats of standard interoceptive accuracy (IA) indexes, mainly based on heartbeat detection (HBD) tasks. Here we profit from a novel IA index (md) to provide a convergent multidimensional and multi-feature approach to cardiac interoception. We found that outcomes from our IA-md index are associated with -and predicted by- canonical markers of interoception, including the hd-EEG-derived heart-evoked potential (HEP), fMRI functional connectivity within interoceptive hubs (insular, somatosensory, and frontal networks), and socio-emotional skills. Importantly, these associations proved more robust than those involving current IA indexes. Furthermore, this pattern of results persisted when taking into consideration confounding variables (gender, age, years of education, and executive functioning). This work has relevant theoretical and clinical implications concerning the characterization of cardiac interoception and its assessment in heterogeneous samples, such as those composed of neuropsychiatric patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sol Fittipaldi
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina
| | - Sofía Abrevaya
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina
| | - Alethia de la Fuente
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina; Buenos Aires Physics Institute (IFIBA) and Physics Department, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Laboratory of Neuropsychology (LNPS), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Guido Orlando Pascariello
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina; Multimedia Signal Processing Group - Neuroimage Division, French-Argentine International Center for Information and Systems Sciences (CIFASIS), National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina; Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Neuroscience (LANEN), INECO Foundation Rosario, Argentina
| | - Eugenia Hesse
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina; Departamento de Matemática y Ciencias, Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustina Birba
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina
| | - Paula Salamone
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina
| | - Malin Hildebrandt
- Chair for Addiction Research, Institute for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Dresden, Germany
| | - Sofía Alarco Martí
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ricardo Marcos Pautassi
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina; Instituto de Investigación Médica M. y M. Ferreyra, INIMEC-CONICET-UNC, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - David Huepe
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Miquel Martorell Martorell
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina
| | - Adrián Yoris
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina
| | - María Roca
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina; Laboratory of Neuropsychology (LNPS), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Adolfo M García
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina; Faculty of Education, National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Lucas Sedeño
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina; Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile; Universidad Autónoma Del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia; ARC Excellence Center of Cognition and its Disorders, Sydney, Australia.
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42
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Arnold AJ, Winkielman P, Dobkins K. Interoception and Social Connection. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2589. [PMID: 31849741 PMCID: PMC6901918 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2019] [Accepted: 10/31/2019] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Interoception – the process of sensing bodily signals – has gained much interest in recent years, due to its role in physical and mental well-being. Here, we focus on the role of interoception in social connection, which is a relatively new and growing research area. Studies in this area suggest that interoception may help in appraising physiological signals in social situations, but also that (challenging) social situations may reduce interoceptive processing by shifting attention from internally- to externally- focused. We discuss potential mechanisms for the influence of interoception on social connection and highlight that flexibility in engaging interoception in social situations may be particularly important. We end with a discussion of loneliness – an extreme case of poor social connection, which is associated with physiological decline and increased mortality risk, and propose that interoceptive dysregulation is involved. We suggest that interventions aimed to improve interoceptive abilities, such as mindfulness-based meditation practices, may be key for alleviating loneliness and improving social connection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J Arnold
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.,Department of Psychology, Knox College, Galesburg, IL, United States
| | - Piotr Winkielman
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.,Department of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Karen Dobkins
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
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43
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Lischke A, Weippert M, Mau-Moeller A, Jacksteit R, Pahnke R. Interoceptive accuracy is associated with emotional contagion in a valence- and sex-dependent manner. Soc Neurosci 2019; 15:227-233. [PMID: 31693866 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2019.1690573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Over the last years, the neurobiological mechanisms of empathy have been extensively investigated. Recent investigations suggest that interoceptive processes, in particular, those that are related to the experience and perception of cardiac changes, are relevant for affect sharing, mentalizing and self-other distinction. To further investigate the association between interoception and affect-sharing, we measured emotional contagion and interoceptive accuracy in a sample of healthy participants (n = 84). Emotional contagion was assessed with an established self-report questionnaire and interoceptive accuracy was assessed with a validated heartbeat detection task. Across a series of complementary analyses, we found a sex- and valence-dependent association between interoception and affection sharing: Among female but not male participants, interoceptive accuracy was positively associated with emotional contagion for negative but not positive states of others. We provide an evolutionary-based explanation for these findings, which are consistent with previous findings showing positive associations between interoceptive accuracy, mentalizing and self-other distinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Lischke
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Matthias Weippert
- Department of Sport Science, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
| | - Anett Mau-Moeller
- Department of Sport Science, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany.,Department of Orthopaedics, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany
| | - Robert Jacksteit
- Department of Orthopaedics, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany
| | - Rike Pahnke
- Department of Sport Science, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
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44
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von Mohr M, Finotti G, Ambroziak KB, Tsakiris M. Do you hear what I see? An audio-visual paradigm to assess emotional egocentricity bias. Cogn Emot 2019; 34:756-770. [PMID: 31672095 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2019.1683516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
We often use our own emotions to understand other people's emotions. However, emotional egocentric biases (EEB), namely the tendency to use one's own emotional state when relating to others' emotions, may hinder this process, especially when emotions are incongruent. We capitalised on the classic EEB task to develop a new version that is easier to implement and control. Unlike the original EEB task that relies on a combination of private (e.g. touch) and public (e.g. vision) sensory information, our EEB task (AV-EEB) used audio-visual stimuli to evoke congruent/incongruent emotions in participants. Auditory and visual signals are both public, in that they can be shared among individuals, and make the task easier to implement and control. We provide lab-based and online validations of the AV-EEB, and demonstrate a positive relationship between EEB and social negative potency. This new, easily implemented version of the EEB task can accelerate the investigation of egocentricity biases in several research areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana von Mohr
- Lab of Action and Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK
| | - Gianluca Finotti
- Lab of Action and Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK
| | - Klaudia B Ambroziak
- The Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, UK
| | - Manos Tsakiris
- Lab of Action and Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK.,The Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, UK
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45
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Bowling NC, Botan V, Santiesteban I, Ward J, Banissy MJ. Atypical bodily self-awareness in vicarious pain responders. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20180361. [PMID: 31630646 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Vicarious perception refers to the ability to co-represent the experiences of others. Prior research has shown considerable inter-individual variability in vicarious perception of pain, with some experiencing conscious sensations of pain on their own body when viewing another person in pain (conscious vicarious perception/mirror-pain synaesthesia). Self-Other Theory proposes that this conscious vicarious perception may result from impairments in self-other distinction and maintaining a coherent sense of bodily self. In support of this, individuals who experience conscious vicarious perception are more susceptible to illusions of body ownership and agency. However, little work has assessed whether trait differences in bodily self-awareness are associated with conscious vicarious pain. Here we addressed this gap by examining individual difference factors related to awareness of the body, in conscious vicarious pain responders. Increased self-reported depersonalization and interoceptive sensibility was found for conscious vicarious pain responders compared with non-responders, in addition to more internally oriented thinking (associated with lower alexithymia). There were no significant differences in trait anxiety. Results indicate that maintaining a stable sense of the bodily self may be important for vicarious perception of pain, and that vicarious perception might also be enhanced by attention towards internal bodily states. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Bridging senses: novel insights from synaesthesia'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie C Bowling
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK.,Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK
| | - Vanessa Botan
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
| | - Idalmis Santiesteban
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Jamie Ward
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
| | - Michael J Banissy
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK
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46
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Gao Q, Ping X, Chen W. Body Influences on Social Cognition Through Interoception. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2066. [PMID: 31551892 PMCID: PMC6746904 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Qiyang Gao
- Department of Psychology, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
- Center for Brain, Mind and Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
| | - Xianjie Ping
- Center for Brain, Mind and Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
| | - Wei Chen
- Department of Psychology, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
- Center for Brain, Mind and Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
- Interdisciplinary Center for Philosophy and Cognitive Sciences, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
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47
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Abstract
Following recent evidence for a link between interoception, emotion and empathy, we investigated relationships between these factors in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). 26 adults with ASD and 26 healthy participants completed tasks measuring interoception, alexithymia and empathy. ASD participants with alexithymia demonstrated lower cognitive and affective empathy than ASD participants without alexithymia. ASD participants showed reduced interoceptive sensitivity (IS), and also reduced interoceptive awareness (IA). IA was correlated with empathy and alexithymia, but IS was related to neither. Alexithymia fulfilled a mediating role between IA and empathy. Our findings are suggestive of an alexithymic subgroup in ASD, with distinct interoceptive processing abilities, and have implications for diagnosis and interventions.
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48
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Willem C, Gandolphe MC, Roussel M, Verkindt H, Pattou F, Nandrino JL. Difficulties in emotion regulation and deficits in interoceptive awareness in moderate and severe obesity. Eat Weight Disord 2019; 24:633-644. [PMID: 31243741 DOI: 10.1007/s40519-019-00738-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2019] [Accepted: 06/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Difficulties in emotion regulation and deficits in interoceptive awareness may be responsible for overeating and weight gain in obesity by increasing the risks of problematic eating behaviors. This study aimed to: (1) examine emotion regulation difficulties and interoceptive deficits in obesity; (2) compare the emotion regulation and interoceptive abilities of moderately and severely obese patients. METHODS Participants were recruited through the university, diabetology centers and bariatric surgery departments. A total of 165 participants were categorized in three groups, matched by age and gender, according to their Body Mass Index (BMI). The severely obese (SO), moderately obese (MO) and normal weight (NW) groups were constituted of 55 participants each. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess emotion regulation difficulties (CERQ-DERS) and interoceptive awareness (MAIA-FFMQ). RESULTS Overall, obese participants reported more emotion regulation difficulties and less interoceptive awareness than NW participants did. They also reported a lack of planning strategies and emotional awareness, as well as less ability to observe, notice and trust body sensations. No differences in emotion regulation and interoceptive abilities were found between MO and SO participants. CONCLUSIONS Emotion regulation and interoceptive awareness should be targeted in the psychotherapeutic care of obese people, regardless of their BMI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level III, case-control analytic study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clémence Willem
- SCALab Laboratory, Department of Psychology, UMR 9193, CNRS, University of Lille, Villeneuve d'ascq, France.
| | - Marie-Charlotte Gandolphe
- SCALab Laboratory, Department of Psychology, UMR 9193, CNRS, University of Lille, Villeneuve d'ascq, France
| | - Méline Roussel
- Diabetology Center, CETRADIMN, Hospital of Roubaix, Roubaix, France
| | - Hélène Verkindt
- General and Endocrine Surgery, University Hospital of Lille, INSERM U1190, University of Lille, Lille, France
| | - François Pattou
- General and Endocrine Surgery, University Hospital of Lille, INSERM U1190, University of Lille, Lille, France
| | - Jean-Louis Nandrino
- SCALab Laboratory, Department of Psychology, UMR 9193, CNRS, University of Lille, Villeneuve d'ascq, France
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49
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Pace-Schott EF, Amole MC, Aue T, Balconi M, Bylsma LM, Critchley H, Demaree HA, Friedman BH, Gooding AEK, Gosseries O, Jovanovic T, Kirby LA, Kozlowska K, Laureys S, Lowe L, Magee K, Marin MF, Merner AR, Robinson JL, Smith RC, Spangler DP, Van Overveld M, VanElzakker MB. Physiological feelings. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 103:267-304. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2018] [Revised: 03/27/2019] [Accepted: 05/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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50
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Motyka P, Grund M, Forschack N, Al E, Villringer A, Gaebler M. Interactions between cardiac activity and conscious somatosensory perception. Psychophysiology 2019; 56:e13424. [PMID: 31245848 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Revised: 04/30/2019] [Accepted: 05/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Fluctuations in the heart's activity can modulate the access of external stimuli to consciousness. The link between perceptual awareness and cardiac signals has been investigated mainly in the visual and auditory domain. Here, we investigated whether the phase of the cardiac cycle and the prestimulus heart rate influence conscious somatosensory perception. We also tested how conscious detection of somatosensory stimuli affects the heart rate. Electrocardiograms (ECG) of 33 healthy volunteers were recorded while applying near-threshold electrical pulses at a fixed intensity to the left index finger. Conscious detection was not uniformly distributed across the cardiac cycle but significantly higher in diastole than in systole. We found no evidence that the heart rate before a stimulus influenced its detection, but hits (correctly detected somatosensory stimuli) led to a more pronounced cardiac deceleration than misses. Our findings demonstrate interactions between cardiac activity and conscious somatosensory perception, which highlights the importance of internal bodily states for sensory processing beyond the auditory and visual domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paweł Motyka
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.,Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Martin Grund
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Norman Forschack
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.,Experimental Psychology and Methods, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Esra Al
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.,MindBrainBody Institute at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Arno Villringer
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.,MindBrainBody Institute at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael Gaebler
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.,MindBrainBody Institute at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases (LIFE), University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
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