Neural correlates of interoception: Effects of interoceptive focus and relationship to dimensional measures of body awareness

Abstract

Interoception has been defined as the sensing of the physiological condition of the body, with interoceptive sensibility (IS) characterizing an individual's self-reported awareness of internal sensation. IS is a multidimensional construct including not only the tendency to be aware of sensation, but also how sensations are interpreted, regulated, and used to inform behavior, with different dimensions relating to different aspects of health and disease. Here we investigated neural mechanisms of interoception when healthy individuals attended to their heartbeat and skin temperature, and examined the relationship between neural activity during interoception and individual differences in self-reported IS using the Multidimensional Scale of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA). Consistent with prior work, interoception activated a network involving insula and sensorimotor regions but also including occipital, temporal, and prefrontal cortex. Differences based on interoceptive focus (heartbeat vs. skin temperature) were found in insula, sensorimotor regions, occipital cortex, and limbic areas. Factor analysis of MAIA dimensions revealed 3 dissociable components of IS in our dataset, only one of which was related to neural activity during interoception. Reduced scores on the third factor, which reflected reduced ability to control attention to body sensation and increased tendency to distract from and worry about aversive sensations, was associated with greater activation in many of the same regions as those involved in interoception, including insula, sensorimotor, anterior cingulate, and temporal cortex. These data suggest that self-rated interoceptive sensibility is related to altered activation in regions involved in monitoring body state, which has implications for disorders associated with abnormality of interoception.

Effects of mindfulness on psychological and psychophysiological responses during self‐paced walking

“…It was also hypothesized by the research team that the meditation routine would increase the functional connectivity between the anterior and posterior areas of the brain as a result of greater interoceptive awareness (Farb, Segal, & Anderson, 2013;Stern et al, 2017). In this case, the most pronounced results could be expected in the range of 8 to 12 Hz (i.e., alpha waves).…”

High-dose ondansetron reduces activation of interoceptive and sensorimotor brain regions

“…In addition, we cannot rule out the possibility that ondansetron impacted other physiological processes for which we did not correct, such as effects on vasodilation and blood pressure. Although we used a body-focused video task as a method for eliciting activity in our circuit of interest, other investigations of interoceptive circuitry have used different approaches that also successfully evoke this activity [2,4,5,65,66] and which could be used in future research. Furthermore, although this study uses a hypothesis-driven taskbased approach as a first step toward characterizing the relationship between ondansetron dosage and brain function, it will be critically important for future work to interrogate effects on "resting" or baseline brain activity using non-BOLD methods such as arterial spin labeling or positron emission tomography in order to extend the applicability of these findings.…”

“…The process by which the nervous system detects, integrates, and interprets sensations arising from within the body is known as interoception [1]. Several functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have linked the detection of body sensation to activation of an "interoceptive network" involving the insula, somatosensory cortex (inferior parietal lobule, postcentral gyrus, and paracentral lobule), premotor regions (precentral gyrus and supplementary motor area), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and temporal cortex [2][3][4][5]. Interoceptive awareness is associated with emotional functioning [6], and alterations of interoception have been hypothesized to be contributing factors in multiple psychiatric disorders, including obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) [7,8], Tourette's disorder (TD) [9,10], eating disorders [11], anxiety and depression [12], and addiction [13].…”

Do women have an accurate perception of their pelvic floor muscle contraction? A cross‐sectional study

“…8 Interoceptive sensibility is an individual's self-reported awareness of internal sensation. 9 This is a multidimensional construct related not only to awareness of a body sensation but also how it influences different aspects of health and disease. 9 However, we found no studies comparing women's self-perception of a PFM contraction with a PFM contraction assessed by a trained physiotherapist.…”

“…9 This is a multidimensional construct related not only to awareness of a body sensation but also how it influences different aspects of health and disease. 9 However, we found no studies comparing women's self-perception of a PFM contraction with a PFM contraction assessed by a trained physiotherapist. If women show a good perception of their PFM contraction this could be used for clinical purposes including self-assessment of their capacity of contraction and self-monitoring of exercise, requiring less specialized assessment.…”