Active information sampling varies across the cardiac cycle

Kunzendorf, Stella; Klotzsche, Felix; Akbal, Mert; Villringer, Arno; Ohl, Sven; Gaebler, Michael

doi:10.1101/283838

Cited by 16 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…Data Analysis. We applied two complementary approaches-circular and binary analysis-to examine detection and localization across the cardiac cycle (60). For these analyses, we first extracted the R-peaks from the ECG data by using Kubios HRV Analysis Software 2.2 (The Biomedical Signal and Medical Imaging Analysis Group, Department of Applied Physics, University of Kuopio, Finland) and visually corrected for inaccurately determined R-peaks (<0.1%).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heart–brain interactions shape somatosensory perception and evoked potentials

Iliopoulos

Forschack

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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178

170

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Even though humans are mostly not aware of their heartbeats, several heartbeat-related effects have been reported to influence conscious perception. It is not clear whether these effects are distinct or related phenomena, or whether they are early sensory effects or late decisional processes. Combining electroencephalography and electrocardiography, along with signal detection theory analyses, we identify two distinct heartbeat-related influences on conscious perception differentially related to early vs. late somatosensory processing. First, an effect on early sensory processing was found for the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP), a marker of cardiac interoception. The amplitude of the prestimulus HEP negatively correlated with localization and detection of somatosensory stimuli, reflecting a more conservative detection bias (criterion). Importantly, higher HEP amplitudes were followed by decreases in early (P50) as well as late (N140, P300) somatosensory-evoked potential (SEP) amplitudes. Second, stimulus timing along the cardiac cycle also affected perception. During systole, stimuli were detected and correctly localized less frequently, relating to a shift in perceptual sensitivity. This perceptual attenuation was accompanied by the suppression of only late SEP components (P300) and was stronger for individuals with a more stable heart rate. Both heart-related effects were independent of alpha oscillations’ influence on somatosensory processing. We explain cardiac cycle timing effects in a predictive coding account and suggest that HEP-related effects might reflect spontaneous shifts between interoception and exteroception or modulations of general attentional resources. Thus, our results provide a general conceptual framework to explain how internal signals can be integrated into our conscious perception of the world.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heart–brain interactions shape somatosensory perception and evoked potentials

Iliopoulos

Forschack

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

178

170

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“…To examine whether or not there was a significant statistical relationship between the saccades, fixations, blinks, and the phase of the cardiac cycle, we calculated the phase of these oculomotor events as a function of the R-R interval (Kunzendorf et al, 2019). Circular statistics were employed in order to exploit the iterating nature of the cardiac cycle.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ohl and colleagues (2016) reported the generation of involuntary phase-locked microsaccades to the systolic phase of the cardiac cycle. Similarly, Kunzendorf et al, (2019) reported the generation of more keypresses, which led to the onset of images to-be-sampled, during the systolic phase. Here we tested the hypothesis that the timing of eye movements in a free visual search task would be modulated during the different phases of the cardiac cycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Active sampling in visual search is coupled to the cardiac cycle

2020

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Recent research has demonstrated that perception and reasoning vary according to the phase of internal bodily signals such as heartbeat. This has been shown by locking the presentation of sensory events to distinct phases of the cardiac cycle. However, task-relevant information is not usually encountered in such a phase-locked manner nor passively accessed, but rather actively sampled at one's own pace. Moreover, if the phase of the cardiac cycle is an important modulator of perception and cognition, as previously proposed, then the way in which we actively sample the world should be similarly modulated by the phase of the cardiac cycle. Here we tested this by coregistration of eye movements and heartbeat signals while participants freely compared differences between two visual arrays. Across three different analyses, we found a significant coupling of saccades, subsequent fixations, and blinks with the cardiac cycle. More eye movements were generated during the systolic phase of the cardiac cycle, which has been reported as the period of maximal effect of the baroreceptors' activity upon cognition. Conversely, more fixations were found during the diastole phase (quiescent baroreceptors). Lastly, more blinks were generated in the later period of the cardiac cycle. These results suggest that interoceptive and exteroceptive processing do adjust to each other; in our case, by sampling the outer environment during quiescent periods of the inner organism.

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“…Interestingly, motor control also seems to be dependent on the phase of the cardiac cycle. Systole is characterized by more frequent microsaccades [146], improved inhibitory motor control [147], and more frequent self-initiated movement [148].…”

Section: Temporal Contingencies Between External Stimuli and Heartbeatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visceral Signals Shape Brain Dynamics and Cognition

Azzalini

Rebollo

Tallon‐Baudry

2019

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

299

294

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Most research in cognitive neuroscience explores how external stimuli are processed by the brain. However, the brain also receives input from the internal body. We discuss here how the heart and gastrointestinal (GI) tract intrinsically generate their own electrical activity, thereby continuously sending information to the brain. These ongoing ascending signals actively shape brain dynamics at rest, complementing canonical resting-state networks (RSNs). Cardiac signals also influence the processing of external sensory information and the production of spontaneous, internal cognition. These findings are discussed in relation to interpretative frameworks regarding the functional role of visceral inputs. This active field of research offers a unique opportunity to draw new theories blurring the border between cognition, emotion, and consciousness, as well as between mind and body. A Paradigm Shift in Cognitive Neuroscience 'The brain is bombarded by information from the environment.' This sentence, in one form or another, acts as an introduction to many textbooks and articles about perception and cognition (e.g., [1]). Although the internal environment is sometimes mentioned, the vast majority of the experimental work pertains to the processing of external stimuli. This reflects the dominant paradigm in cognitive neuroscience, where an agent collects information from the external environment via the senses and then reacts to this environment by producing actions (Figure 1A). By studying the brain, cognitive neuroscience has been highly successful at providing mechanistic explanations of behavior and at revealing the existence of hidden rules and variables, such as for instance the reward prediction error [2]. In the following we review extensions of this paradigm that include the interplay between the brain and the internal bodily environment (Figure 1B) to account for the neural implementation of cognition. More specifically, we focus on the heart and the gastrointestinal (GI) tract (see Glossary), and refer the reader to [3] for a comprehensive review of other types of somatic influences, including notably humoral and immune factors.

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Active information sampling varies across the cardiac cycle

Cited by 16 publications

References 92 publications

Heart–brain interactions shape somatosensory perception and evoked potentials

Heart–brain interactions shape somatosensory perception and evoked potentials

Active sampling in visual search is coupled to the cardiac cycle

Visceral Signals Shape Brain Dynamics and Cognition

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