Maps of subjective feelings

Nummenmaa, Lauri; Hari, Riitta; Hietanen, Jari K.; Glerean, Enrico

doi:10.1073/pnas.1807390115

Cited by 166 publications

(176 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Bodily signals, and in particular visceral signals, have long been associated with emotions. We tend to spontaneously associate different emotions with different combinations of bodily regions in a stereotypical manner, as recently shown in a set of elegant behavioral experiments [16,17]. However, the causal role of visceral signals in the generation of emotions is controversial.…”

Section: Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 88%

Visceral Signals Shape Brain Dynamics and Cognition

Azzalini

Rebollo

Tallon‐Baudry

2019

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

281

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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Section: Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 88%

Visceral Signals Shape Brain Dynamics and Cognition

Azzalini

Rebollo

Tallon‐Baudry

2019

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

281

294

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Significant arousal‐dependent effects were also observed in the SMA, primary left SI, SII, and premotor cortices. Prior studies have established that different emotions are associated with discernible activation patterns in SI (Saarimäki et al, ), possibly reflecting specific emotion‐related changes in bodily states (Nummenmaa, Glerean, Hari, & Hietanen, ; Nummenmaa, Hari, Hietanen, & Glerean, ; Volynets, Glerean, Hietanen, Hari, & Nummenmaa, ). The presently observed emotion‐dependent synchronization of somatosensory and motor brain areas likely reflects engaging in similar bodily perspective across the speakers and listeners.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotions amplify speaker–listener neural alignment

Smirnov

Saarimäki

Glerean

et al. 2019

Human Brain Mapping

Self Cite

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Individuals often align their emotional states during conversation. Here, we reveal how such emotional alignment is reflected in synchronization of brain activity across speakers and listeners. Two “speaker” subjects told emotional and neutral autobiographical stories while their hemodynamic brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The stories were recorded and played back to 16 “listener” subjects during fMRI. After scanning, both speakers and listeners rated the moment‐to‐moment valence and arousal of the stories. Time‐varying similarity of the blood‐oxygenation‐level‐dependent (BOLD) time series was quantified by intersubject phase synchronization (ISPS) between speaker–listener pairs. Telling and listening to the stories elicited similar emotions across speaker–listener pairs. Arousal was associated with increased speaker–listener neural synchronization in brain regions supporting attentional, auditory, somatosensory, and motor processing. Valence was associated with increased speaker–listener neural synchronization in brain regions involved in emotional processing, including amygdala, hippocampus, and temporal pole. Speaker–listener synchronization of subjective feelings of arousal was associated with increased neural synchronization in somatosensory and subcortical brain regions; synchronization of valence was associated with neural synchronization in parietal cortices and midline structures. We propose that emotion‐dependent speaker–listener neural synchronization is associated with emotional contagion, thereby implying that listeners reproduce some aspects of the speaker's emotional state at the neural level.

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“…By amplifying the sound of the heartbeat, the ear-protector manipulation transforms the HTT into a task that is inherently exteroceptive. It also likely changes the body location in which the heartbeat is experienced (it is usually experienced in the chest region, and sometimes the neck; Nummenmaa, Hari, Hietanen, & Glerean, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduction of auditory input improves performance on the heartbeat tracking task, but does not necessarily enhance interoception

Todd

Hina

Aspell

2019

Preprint

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Word Count: 198Abstract Previous research utilising a between-subjects design indicates that the use of noisedampening ear-protectors might enhance interoceptive accuracy (IAcc). In the present study, we further examined this effect using a repeated-measures, within-participants design, and investigated potential mechanisms that might explain the effect. 50 participants completed the heartbeat tracking task (HTT) with and without the use of ear-protectors, in a counterbalanced order. Participants were asked to count the number of heartbeats occurring in five discrete time intervals of 25, 35, 45, 55 and 95 seconds, without feeling for a manual pulse.HTT scores were significantly higher when ear-protectors were worn, and the improvement in performance was greatest for participants with lower baseline IAcc. Participants also performed more consistently across the five trials when wearing the ear-protectors. The earprotectors were associated with significantly increased self-reported heartbeat audibility, concentration, and task-related confidence, and decreased levels of distractibility. Heartbeat audibility was also correlated with HTT performance when the ear-protectors were worn. The exteroceptive nature of the feedback from the ear-protectors therefore precludes the utility of this manipulation to assess causal hypotheses related to changes in IAcc. However, it may serve as a simple, non-invasive paradigm to assess the effects of externalised interoceptive signals. Highlights• Ear-protectors elicit an improvement in performance on the heartbeat tracking task • This improvement is greatest for participants with lower baseline accuracy • The improvement is associated with the auditory perception of the heartbeat • Prior use of ear-protectors did not result in later enhanced performance on the control condition without ear-protectors.

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Maps of subjective feelings

Cited by 166 publications

References 40 publications

Visceral Signals Shape Brain Dynamics and Cognition

Visceral Signals Shape Brain Dynamics and Cognition

Emotions amplify speaker–listener neural alignment

Reduction of auditory input improves performance on the heartbeat tracking task, but does not necessarily enhance interoception

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