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Flasbeck V, Schedlowski M, Brüne M, Engler H. Impact of experimental inflammation on the neuronal processing of cardiac interoceptive signals and heart rate variability in humans. Neuroimage 2025; 314:121257. [PMID: 40349741 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121257] [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: 03/13/2025] [Revised: 04/27/2025] [Accepted: 05/08/2025] [Indexed: 05/14/2025] Open
Abstract
Interoception, or the perception of internal somatic states, is crucial for signaling the individual to take care of the body when needed. It enables behavioral adaptations to sickness states, which further impact autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity. Whether acute inflammation affects interoceptive processing and how this relates to sickness behavior remains unknown. Therefore, we investigated interoceptive processing in participants undergoing experimental endotoxemia. In neuroimaging research, heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEP) - defined as event-related potentials time-locked to electrocardiogram (ECG) R-waves during electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings - have emerged as a promising metric for cardiac interoceptive processing. We analyzed the effects of intravenous administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 0.4 ng/kg) or placebo, on HEP amplitudes and ANS functioning in healthy, female participants (n = 52) during 8 min resting-state EEG and ECG recordings before and 2 h after injections. Our results showed increased cortisol and cytokine levels in the LPS group, along with increased sympathetic and decreased parasympathetic activity 2 h after injections compared to the placebo group. Placebo-injected participants exhibited lower post injection-baseline differences in HEP amplitudes in an early timeframe (255-455 ms), indicating lower HEPs 2 h after administrations. Moreover, post-injection HEP amplitudes differed between groups, suggesting that while participants in the placebo group showed altered HEP amplitudes after injection, HEPs remained unresponsive to LPS administration. These findings are discussed in the context of predictive processing, expectation violation and attention direction to external and interoceptive cues. Future research should further investigate the role of LPS dose and explore behavioral measures of interoception under experimental inflammation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vera Flasbeck
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, Division of Social Neuropsychiatry and Evolutionary Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum, LWL University Hospital Bochum, Alexandrinenstraße 1-3, Bochum 44791, Germany.
| | - Manfred Schedlowski
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Immunobiology, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen 45122, Germany; Osher Center for Integrative Health, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 77, Sweden
| | - Martin Brüne
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, Division of Social Neuropsychiatry and Evolutionary Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum, LWL University Hospital Bochum, Alexandrinenstraße 1-3, Bochum 44791, Germany
| | - Harald Engler
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Immunobiology, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen 45122, Germany
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Schizas I, Sullivan S, Kerick S, Mahmoodi K, Cortney Bradford J, Boothe DL, Franaszczuk PJ, Grigolini P, West BJ. Complexity synchronization analysis of neurophysiological data: Theory and methods. FRONTIERS IN NETWORK PHYSIOLOGY 2025; 5:1570530. [PMID: 40438270 PMCID: PMC12116615 DOI: 10.3389/fnetp.2025.1570530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2025] [Accepted: 04/22/2025] [Indexed: 06/01/2025]
Abstract
Introduction We present a theoretical foundation based on the spontaneous self-organized temporal criticality (SOTC) and multifractal dimensionality μ to model complex neurophysiological and behavioral systems to infer the optimal empirical transfer of information among them. We hypothesize that heterogeneous time series characterizing the brain, heart, and lung organ-networks (ONs) are necessarily multifractal, whose level of complexity and, therefore, their information content is measured by their multifractal dimensions. Methods We apply modified diffusion entropy analysis (MDEA) to assess multifractal dimensions of ON time series (ONTS), and complexity synchronization (CS) analysis to infer information transfer among ONs that are part of a network-of-organ-networks (NoONs). An automated parameter selection process is proposed that relies on the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic to properly choose stripe sizes which are crucial in the MDEA analysis using synthetic duration times derived from the Mittag-Leffler map, shows the strength of KS-based stripe size selection to track changes in the IPL parameter μ . The purpose of this paper is to advance the validation, standardization, and reconstruct-ability of MDEA and CS analysis of heterogeneous neurophysiological time series data. Results Results from processing these datasets show that the complexity of brain, heart, and lung ONTS co-vary over time during cognitive task performance in 44% of subjects, while complexity of brain-heart interactions significantly co-vary in 85% of subjects. Discussion We conclude that certain principles, guidelines, and strategies for the application of MDEA analysis need further consideration. We conclude with a summary of the MDEA's limitations and future research directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ioannis Schizas
- US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, United States
| | - Sabrina Sullivan
- US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, United States
| | - Scott Kerick
- US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, United States
| | - Korosh Mahmoodi
- US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, United States
| | - J. Cortney Bradford
- US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, United States
| | - David L. Boothe
- US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, United States
| | - Piotr J. Franaszczuk
- US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, United States
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Paolo Grigolini
- Center for Nonlinear Science, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United States
| | - Bruce J. West
- Center for Nonlinear Science, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United States
- Office of Research and Innovation, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United States
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Xu E, Pitts S, Dahill-Fuchel J, Scherrer S, Nauvel T, Overton JG, Riva-Posse P, Crowell A, Figee M, Alagapan S, Rozell CJ, Choi KS, Mayberg HS, Waters AC. Neural Interoceptive Processing Is Modulated by Deep Brain Stimulation to Subcallosal Cingulate Cortex for Treatment-Resistant Depression. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2025; 10:495-503. [PMID: 39622471 PMCID: PMC12058420 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.11.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2024] [Revised: 11/22/2024] [Accepted: 11/22/2024] [Indexed: 12/11/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Symptoms of depression are associated with impaired interoceptive processing of bodily sensation. The antidepressant effects of subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation (SCC DBS) include acute change in bodily sensation, and the SCC target is connected to cortical regions critically involved in interoception. This study tested whether cortical interoceptive processing is modulated by SCC DBS for treatment-resistant depression. METHODS In 8 patients receiving SCC DBS for treatment-resistant depression, we used electroencephalography to measure the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP), a putative readout of neural interoception, before surgery and over 6 months of treatment with DBS. We also examined the immediate effect of DBS on the HEP and correlated HEP change over time with outcomes of treatment for depression. RESULTS HEP amplitude increased from baseline to 6 months of DBS treatment, and this increase was associated with faster antidepressant response. Recording with stimulation on (vs. off) had an immediate effect on HEP in the laboratory. Overall, modulation of the HEP was most pronounced in sensors over the left parietal cortex. CONCLUSIONS Brain-based evidence implies an interoceptive element in the mechanism of treatment efficacy with DBS for treatment-resistant depression and substantiates a theorized connection between interoception and depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Xu
- Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Samantha Pitts
- Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | | | - Sara Scherrer
- Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Tanya Nauvel
- Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Jacqueline Guerra Overton
- Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Patricio Riva-Posse
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Andrea Crowell
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Martijn Figee
- Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Sankaraleengam Alagapan
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Christopher J Rozell
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Ki Sueng Choi
- Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Neurosurgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Helen S Mayberg
- Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Neurosurgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Allison C Waters
- Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.
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Braun D, Shareef-Trudeau L, Rao S, Chesebrough C, Kam JWY, Kucyi A. Neural sensitivity to the heartbeat is modulated by spontaneous fluctuations in subjective arousal during wakeful rest. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2025:2025.03.26.645574. [PMID: 40235965 PMCID: PMC11996350 DOI: 10.1101/2025.03.26.645574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/17/2025]
Abstract
Spontaneous thoughts, occupying much of one's awake time in daily time, are often colored by emotional qualities. While spontaneous thoughts have been associated with various neural correlates, the relationship between subjective qualities of ongoing experiences and the brain's sensitivity to bodily signals (i.e., interoception) remains largely unexplored. Given the well-established role of interoception in emotion, clarifying this relationship may elucidate how processes relevant to mental health, such as arousal and anxiety, are regulated. We used EEG and ECG to measure the heartbeat evoked potential (HEP), an index of interoceptive processing, while 51 adult participants (34 male, 20 female) visually fixated on a cross image and let their minds wander freely. At pseudo-random intervals, participants reported their momentary level of arousal. This measure of subjective arousal was highly variable within and between individuals but was statistically unrelated to several markers of physiological arousal, including heart rate, heart rate variability, time on task, and EEG alpha power at posterior electrodes. A cluster-based permutation analysis revealed that the HEP amplitude was increased during low relative to high subjective arousal in a set of frontal electrodes during the 0.328 s - 0.364 s window after heartbeat onset. This HEP effect was more pronounced in individuals who reported high, relative to low, levels of state anxiety. Together, our results offer novel evidence that at varying levels of state anxiety, the brain differentially modulates sensitivity to bodily signals in coordination with the momentary, spontaneous experience of subjective arousal-a mechanism that may operate independently of physiological arousal. Significance Statement Our findings highlight the relationships between spontaneous fluctuations in subjective arousal, brain-body interactions, and anxiety, offering new insights into how interoception fluctuates with changes in internal states. By showing that interoceptive processing is heightened during lower subjective arousal and that this effect is amplified in individuals with higher state anxiety, our study suggests the brain adaptively downregulates interoceptive sensitivity in response to fluctuating internal states. These results have implications for understanding how spontaneous thoughts shape interoception and emotion, particularly in clinical contexts where dysregulated interoception is linked to anxiety and mood disorders. More broadly, our work underscores the need to distinguish between different forms of arousal, advancing understanding of the taxonomy and ways of measuring arousal.
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Crivelli D, Balconi M. Electrophysiological signature of interoceptive attention: a spectral and source localization analysis. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2025; 25:402-414. [PMID: 39419923 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-024-01235-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/04/2024] [Indexed: 10/19/2024]
Abstract
The ability to attend to and consciously process interoceptive signals is deemed critical for the development of minimal self, adaptive self-regulation and affective experience, and optimal expression of both instrumental and executive cognitive functions. Yet, notwithstanding the richness of theoretical proposals concerning inferential accounts of interoception, empirical evidence is still scarce. Building on such premises, this study was designed to investigate the electrophysiological signature of cognitive processes leading to aware coding of interoceptive signals via EEG source localization. Thirty-six healthy participants completed an interoceptive accuracy task, i.e., the Heartbeat Counting Task (HCT), while we collected task-related and resting state electrophysiological activity. eLORETA modelling and statistical nonparametric mapping were used to estimate intracortical current density and link such estimates to participants' performance at the task. Source analysis highlighted higher current density estimates for alpha frequencies during HCT with respect to rest, with the primary cortical generator in the right parahippocampal gyrus. Also, a set of medial cortical structures-primarily represented by the cingulate gyrus-showed significant relation between task-related changes in current density estimates for beta oscillations and HCT scores. Findings suggest the informativity of EEG task-related measures of neural activation when used to assess interoceptive skills, as well as of the potential of metrics and analysis based on source localization in the quest to improve our understanding of interoceptive accuracy and neurofunctional correlates of related active inferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Crivelli
- International research center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Faculty of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo A. Gemelli 1, 20123, Milan, Italy.
- Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo A. Gemelli 1, 20123, Milan, Italy.
| | - Michela Balconi
- International research center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Faculty of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo A. Gemelli 1, 20123, Milan, Italy
- Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo A. Gemelli 1, 20123, Milan, Italy
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Aprile F, Simões M, Henriques J, Carvalho P, Castelo-Branco M, Sel A, Ribeiro MJ. The Heartbeat-Evoked Potential in Young and Older Adults During Attention Orienting. Psychophysiology 2025; 62:e70057. [PMID: 40237106 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.70057] [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: 06/21/2024] [Revised: 03/26/2025] [Accepted: 04/03/2025] [Indexed: 04/17/2025]
Abstract
Cardiac cycle duration, or interbeat interval (IBI), is the period from one heartbeat to the next. IBI changes from cycle to cycle. Periods with longer IBI are associated with higher sensitivity to external sensory stimuli (exteroception). Warning cues induce a state of attentive anticipation characterized by an increase in IBI (anticipatory cardiac deceleration) and faster reaction times. Aging reduces the increase in IBI induced by warning cues and response speed. However, it is unclear which mechanism, if any, connects IBI with reaction time. The heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) is a cortical response evoked by the heartbeat, modulated by attention and associated with sensitivity to external sensory stimuli. HEP might be affected by IBI and mediate the association between cardiac output and cortical processing. We investigated if the HEP was affected by warning cues as well as spontaneous fluctuations in IBI. To explore the impact of age-related changes in cardiac responses, we included young and older people (N = 33/29; 26/23 women; mean age 23/61 years). We analyzed the electroencephalograms and electrocardiograms simultaneously acquired during auditory cued simple reaction time and go/no-go tasks. The warning cue did not induce significant changes in the HEP. Yet, fluctuations in IBI (not locked with the warning cue) affected the HEP, and HEP amplitude was associated with average reaction time in the older group. However, on a trial-by-trial basis, reaction time was independent from IBI fluctuations. In conclusion, we found no evidence that the HEP mediates the effect of attention orienting on reaction time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Aprile
- Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Marco Simões
- Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Center for Informatics and Systems (CISUC), University of Coimbra, Polo II, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Jorge Henriques
- Center for Informatics and Systems (CISUC), University of Coimbra, Polo II, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Paulo Carvalho
- Center for Informatics and Systems (CISUC), University of Coimbra, Polo II, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Miguel Castelo-Branco
- Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Alejandra Sel
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Brain Science, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | - Maria J Ribeiro
- Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
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Tanaka Y, Ito Y, Shibata M, Terasawa Y, Umeda S. Heartbeat evoked potentials reflect interoceptive awareness during an emotional situation. Sci Rep 2025; 15:8072. [PMID: 40057611 PMCID: PMC11890762 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-92854-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/03/2025] [Indexed: 05/13/2025] Open
Abstract
Interoception, the ability to perceive internal bodily signals, involves various mental processes. This study investigated moments when individuals experienced a change in their interoceptive state. Interoception affects the subjective feelings of emotions. However, whether changes in interoceptive processing occur when visceral changes are perceived as interoceptive sensations remains unclear. This study examined the psychophysiological markers of perceptual changes in the interoceptive state using heartbeat evoked potentials (HEP). Emotional photos were viewed by participants who were asked whether they experienced changes in their interoceptive state. The results showed that the HEP amplitude increased when participants had subjective awareness of changes in their interoceptive state. Notably, the HEP amplitude did not correlate with individual differences in interoceptive accuracy measured by the heartbeat counting task. When individuals perceive changes in their interoceptive state, this perception is reflected in the HEP amplitude. Multiple aspects of interoception are related to the emotional recognition and conscious attention to changing bodily states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuto Tanaka
- Global Research Institute, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-8345, Japan.
| | - Yuichi Ito
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kwansei Gakuin University, 1-155 Uegahara Ichiban-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 662-8501, Japan
| | - Midori Shibata
- Global Research Institute, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-8345, Japan
| | - Yuri Terasawa
- Department of Psychology, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Tokyo, Minato-ku, 108-8345, Japan
| | - Satoshi Umeda
- Department of Psychology, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Tokyo, Minato-ku, 108-8345, Japan
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Haruki Y, Kaneko K, Ogawa K. No gender difference in cardiac interoceptive accuracy: Potential psychophysiological contributors in heartbeat counting task. BMC Psychol 2025; 13:176. [PMID: 40022207 PMCID: PMC11871792 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-025-02432-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2024] [Accepted: 01/30/2025] [Indexed: 03/03/2025] Open
Abstract
Gender differences in interoceptive awareness-awareness of internal bodily signals such as heartbeat perception-have been suggested, with some findings indicating behaviourally reduced but subjectively enhanced awareness in women, though these findings are still contentious. This study aimed to comprehensively examine gender differences in three aspects of interoceptive awareness: behavioural accuracy, subjective confidence, and relationship between them (i.e., metacognition). We used a modified heartbeat counting task that prohibited estimation strategies and increased the number of trials up to 20. Using data from 74 healthy young adults (39 women and 35 men), we evaluated gender differences and practice effects for each measure via Bayesian linear mixed models, controlling for individual heart rate and trial duration on a trial-by-trial basis. Contrary to previous research, the results revealed no reduced interoceptive accuracy in women; instead, higher interoceptive accuracy score was associated with shorter trial durations and lower heart rates regardless of gender. Moreover, women exhibited underconfidence about their performance, and therefore lower metacognition scores, compared to men. Trial repetitions moderated women's lowered metacognition but did not affect accuracy or confidence. These findings highlight potential physiological and psychological confounding factors in the heartbeat counting task, such as heart rate and reporting style, and emphasise several cautions for studying gender differences in interoceptive awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuke Haruki
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan.
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Tokyo, 102-8472, Japan.
- Department of Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo, 153-8092, Japan.
| | - Kei Kaneko
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan
| | - Kenji Ogawa
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan.
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Garfinkel SN, Eccleston C. Interoception and pain: body-mind integration, rupture, and repair. Pain 2025:00006396-990000000-00812. [PMID: 39977330 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2024] [Accepted: 11/24/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2025]
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah N Garfinkel
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher Eccleston
- Centre for Pain Research, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
- Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Psychology, The University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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10
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Dohata M, Kaneko N, Takahashi R, Suzuki Y, Nakazawa K. Posture-Dependent Modulation of Interoceptive Processing in Young Male Participants: A Heartbeat-Evoked Potential Study. Eur J Neurosci 2025; 61:e70021. [PMID: 39957442 PMCID: PMC11831245 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.70021] [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: 05/02/2024] [Revised: 01/23/2025] [Accepted: 01/30/2025] [Indexed: 02/18/2025]
Abstract
Interoception, the internal perception of bodily states such as heartbeat and hunger, plays a crucial role in shaping cognitive and emotional states. Since postural control affects cognitive and emotional processing, exploring postural effects on interoception could help uncover the neural mechanisms underlying its effects on cognition and emotion. In this study, we aimed to investigate how different postures affect interoception by using heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs), which reflect the cortical processing of cardiac signals. Two experiments were conducted; Experiment 1 involved 47 healthy male participants comparing sitting and standing postures, and Experiment 2 involved 24 healthy male participants comparing stable and unstable standing conditions. HEPs were analyzed using cluster-based permutation analysis to identify statistically significant spatiotemporal clusters. In Experiment 1, significant clusters were identified over central electrodes (Cz, C1, C2, FCz, and FC1) within the post-R-wave interval of 304-572 ms, revealing significantly lower HEP amplitudes during standing compared to sitting [W = 80, p < 0.001, r = 0.62]. In Experiment 2, HEP amplitudes were significantly lower during unstable standing compared to stable standing [t(20) = 2.9, p = 0.0099, d = 0.62]. Furthermore, we found no significant correlations between HEP changes and physiological changes such as cardiac activity and periodic and aperiodic brain activity. These findings suggest postural differences modulate interoceptive processing, with standing postures attenuating HEP amplitudes, probably because of a redistribution of attentional resources from interoceptive to somatosensory (proprioceptive) and vestibular processing, necessary for maintaining standing posture. This study provides insights into the neural mechanisms underlying posture-interoception interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mayu Dohata
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and SciencesThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
| | - Naotsugu Kaneko
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and SciencesThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
| | - Ryogo Takahashi
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and SciencesThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)TokyoJapan
| | - Yuya Suzuki
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and SciencesThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
| | - Kimitaka Nakazawa
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and SciencesThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
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11
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Sen MG, Chooi R, McMullen JR. Heart-derived factors and organ cross-talk in settings of health and disease: new knowledge and clinical opportunities for multimorbidity. J Physiol 2025. [PMID: 39888058 DOI: 10.1113/jp287400] [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: 09/26/2024] [Accepted: 01/13/2025] [Indexed: 02/01/2025] Open
Abstract
Cardiovascular disease affects millions of people worldwide and often presents with other conditions including metabolic, renal and neurological disorders. A variety of secreted factors from multiple organs/tissues (proteins, nucleic acids and lipids) have been implicated in facilitating organ cross-talk that may contribute to the development of multimorbidity. Secreted proteins have received the most attention, with the greatest body of research related to factors released from adipose tissue (adipokines), followed by skeletal muscle (myokines). To date, there have been fewer studies on proteins released from the heart (cardiokines) implicated with organ cross-talk. Early evidence for the secretion of cardiac-specific factors facilitating organ cross-talk came in the form of natriuretic peptides which are secreted via the classical endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi pathway. More recently, studies in cardiomyocyte-specific genetic mouse models have revealed cardiac-initiated organ cross-talk. Cardiomyocyte-specific modulation of microRNAs (miR-208a and miR-23-27-24 cluster) and proteins such as the mediator complex subunit 13 (MED13), G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2), mutant α-myosin heavy-chain (αMHC), ubiquitin-like modifier-activating enzyme (ATG7), oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) have resulted in metabolic and renal phenotypes. These studies have implicated a variety of factors which can be secreted via the classical pathway or via non-classical mechanisms including the release of extracellular vesicles. Cross-talk between the heart and the brain has also been described (e.g. via miR-1 and an emerging concept, interoception: detection of internal neural signals). Here we summarize these studies taking into consideration that factors may be secreted in both settings of health and in disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melodi G Sen
- Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Roger Chooi
- Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Julie R McMullen
- Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Heart Research Institute, Newtown, New South Wales, Australia
- Monash Alfred Baker Centre for Cardiovascular Research, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
- Baker Department of Cardiovascular Research, Translation and Implementation, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
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12
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Corcoran AW, Perrykkad K, Feuerriegel D, Robinson JE. Body as First Teacher: The Role of Rhythmic Visceral Dynamics in Early Cognitive Development. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2025; 20:45-75. [PMID: 37694720 PMCID: PMC11720274 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231185343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/12/2023]
Abstract
Embodied cognition-the idea that mental states and processes should be understood in relation to one's bodily constitution and interactions with the world-remains a controversial topic within cognitive science. Recently, however, increasing interest in predictive processing theories among proponents and critics of embodiment alike has raised hopes of a reconciliation. This article sets out to appraise the unificatory potential of predictive processing, focusing in particular on embodied formulations of active inference. Our analysis suggests that most active-inference accounts invoke weak, potentially trivial conceptions of embodiment; those making stronger claims do so independently of the theoretical commitments of the active-inference framework. We argue that a more compelling version of embodied active inference can be motivated by adopting a diachronic perspective on the way rhythmic physiological activity shapes neural development in utero. According to this visceral afferent training hypothesis, early-emerging physiological processes are essential not only for supporting the biophysical development of neural structures but also for configuring the cognitive architecture those structures entail. Focusing in particular on the cardiovascular system, we propose three candidate mechanisms through which visceral afferent training might operate: (a) activity-dependent neuronal development, (b) periodic signal modeling, and (c) oscillatory network coordination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew W. Corcoran
- Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, Monash University
- Cognition and Philosophy Laboratory, School of Philosophical, Historical, and International Studies, Monash University
| | - Kelsey Perrykkad
- Cognition and Philosophy Laboratory, School of Philosophical, Historical, and International Studies, Monash University
| | | | - Jonathan E. Robinson
- Cognition and Philosophy Laboratory, School of Philosophical, Historical, and International Studies, Monash University
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13
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Greenwood BM, Garfinkel SN. Interoceptive Mechanisms and Emotional Processing. Annu Rev Psychol 2025; 76:59-86. [PMID: 39423429 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-020924-125202] [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] [Indexed: 10/21/2024]
Abstract
Interoception, the sensing of internal bodily signals, is intricately linked with the experience of emotions. Various theoretical models of emotion incorporate aspects of interoception as a fundamental component alongside higher-order processes such as the appraisal of internal signals guided by external context. Interoception can be delineated into different dimensions, which include the nature of afferent signals, the accuracy with which they can be sensed, their neural processing, and the higher-order interpretation of these signals. This review methodically evaluates these interoceptive dimensions through empirical research to illustrate their role in shaping emotions. Clinical and neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by altered emotional profiles, such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, posttraumatic stress disorder, emotionally unstable personality disorder, and autism, exhibit distinct changes in interoception. Various therapeutic approaches, including behavioral, pharmacological, and psychological strategies, may be efficacious for treating conditions associated with emotional alterations by targeting interoceptive mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benedict M Greenwood
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom;
| | - Sarah N Garfinkel
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom;
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14
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Santamaría-García H, Migeot J, Medel V, Hazelton JL, Teckentrup V, Romero-Ortuno R, Piguet O, Lawor B, Northoff G, Ibanez A. Allostatic Interoceptive Overload Across Psychiatric and Neurological Conditions. Biol Psychiatry 2025; 97:28-40. [PMID: 38964530 PMCID: PMC12012852 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.06.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 06/10/2024] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/06/2024]
Abstract
Emerging theories emphasize the crucial role of allostasis (anticipatory and adaptive regulation of the body's biological processes) and interoception (integration, anticipation, and regulation of internal bodily states) in adjusting physiological responses to environmental and bodily demands. In this review, we explore the disruptions in integrated allostatic interoceptive mechanisms in psychiatric and neurological disorders, including anxiety, depression, Alzheimer's disease, and frontotemporal dementia. We assess the biological mechanisms associated with allostatic interoception, including whole-body cascades, brain structure and function of the allostatic interoceptive network, heart-brain interactions, respiratory-brain interactions, the gut-brain-microbiota axis, peripheral biological processes (inflammatory, immune), and epigenetic pathways. These processes span psychiatric and neurological conditions and call for developing dimensional and transnosological frameworks. We synthesize new pathways to understand how allostatic interoceptive processes modulate interactions between environmental demands and biological functions in brain disorders. We discuss current limitations of the framework and future transdisciplinary developments. This review opens a new research agenda for understanding how allostatic interoception involves brain predictive coding in psychiatry and neurology, allowing for better clinical application and the development of new therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hernando Santamaría-García
- Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, PhD program of Neuroscience, Bogotá, Colombia; Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Centro de Memoria y Cognición Intellectus, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Joaquin Migeot
- Global Brain Health Institute, University California of San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; Latin American Brain Health Institute, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Vicente Medel
- Latin American Brain Health Institute, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Jessica L Hazelton
- Latin American Brain Health Institute, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago, Chile; School of Psychology and Brain & Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Vanessa Teckentrup
- School of Psychology and Trinity Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Roman Romero-Ortuno
- Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, PhD program of Neuroscience, Bogotá, Colombia; Discipline of Medical Gerontology, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Olivier Piguet
- School of Psychology and Brain & Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Brian Lawor
- Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, PhD program of Neuroscience, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - George Northoff
- Institute of Mental Health Research, Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics Research Unit, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Agustin Ibanez
- Global Brain Health Institute, University California of San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; Latin American Brain Health Institute, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago, Chile; School of Psychology and Trinity Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
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15
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Limonova AS, Minenko IA, Sukmanova AA, Kutsenko VA, Kulikova SP, Nazarova MA, Davtyan KV, Drapkina OM, Ershova AI. Exploring the Link Between Interoception and Symptom Severity in Premature Ventricular Contractions. J Clin Med 2024; 13:7756. [PMID: 39768680 PMCID: PMC11676546 DOI: 10.3390/jcm13247756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2024] [Revised: 12/11/2024] [Accepted: 12/16/2024] [Indexed: 01/11/2025] Open
Abstract
Background/Objectives: The physiological basis underlying symptomatic versus asymptomatic premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) remains poorly understood. However, symptomatic PVCs can significantly impair quality of life. In patients without structural heart disease, symptom intensity is crucial for guiding management strategies and determining the need for medical or surgical intervention. In this study, we aimed, for the first time, to examine the associations between PVC symptoms and cardiac interoception. Methods: This study included 34 participants with PVCs (20 women; median age = 42 years; 17 participants had asymptomatic PVCs) without concomitant disorders. Interoception was assessed through interoceptive accuracy (IA) probed by two behavioral tests-mental tracking (MT) and heartbeat detection (HBD)-and the neurophysiological marker of cardiac interoception, the heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs). Symptom intensity scores reported by patients served as the response variable in the regression analysis, with IA and HEP as predictors. Other factors such as sex, age, percent of body fat, trait anxiety, and alexithymia were added to the models as confounding variables. Results: IAMT was significantly higher in patients with symptomatic PVCs. IAMT and HEP modulation for the HBD task were associated with symptom intensity. A combined regression model incorporating both metrics showed the highest predictive accuracy for symptom severity. Adding confounding variables improved model quality (lower AIC); however, only the male sex emerged as a significant negative predictor for symptom intensity. Conclusions: Our findings confirm a significant association between interoception and PVC symptom severity. Integrating behavioral and neurophysiological interoception measures enhances symptom prediction accuracy, suggesting new ways to develop diagnostic and non-invasive treatment strategies targeting interoception in PVC management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alena S. Limonova
- National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, 101000 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.S.); (A.I.E.)
| | - Irina A. Minenko
- National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, 101000 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.S.); (A.I.E.)
| | - Anastasia A. Sukmanova
- National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, 101000 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.S.); (A.I.E.)
- Department of Psychology, National Research University Higher School of Economics, 101000 Moscow, Russia
| | - Vladimir A. Kutsenko
- National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, 101000 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.S.); (A.I.E.)
| | - Sofya P. Kulikova
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, National Research University Higher School of Economics, 614070 Perm, Russia;
| | - Maria A. Nazarova
- Center for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, National Research University Higher School of Economics, 101000 Moscow, Russia
| | - Karapet V. Davtyan
- National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, 101000 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.S.); (A.I.E.)
| | - Oxana M. Drapkina
- National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, 101000 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.S.); (A.I.E.)
| | - Alexandra I. Ershova
- National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, 101000 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.S.); (A.I.E.)
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16
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Marshall AC, Ren Q, Enk L, Liu J, Schütz-Bosbach S. The effect of cardiac phase on distractor suppression and motor inhibition in a stop-signal task. Sci Rep 2024; 14:29847. [PMID: 39617765 PMCID: PMC11609284 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-80742-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2024] [Accepted: 11/21/2024] [Indexed: 12/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Past work has shown that stimuli timed to the cardiac systole, the time at which heartbeat feedback is transmitted to the brain, can be more effectively selected from conflicting information. Here, we investigated how the temporal alignment of distracting information to different phases of the cardiac cycle impacts inhibitory performance on a stop-signal task. While participants received the go-cue and anticipated a potential stop-signal, we presented several moving dots on the screen. The dots' change of movement direction was timed to occur 290 ms posterior to the R-peak (for cardiac systole) or right at the R-peak (for cardiac diastole) of in-time ECG recordings. In a third control condition, no distracting dots were shown. Behavioural results found participants were significantly better at inhibiting their motor response in systole relative to diastole distractor trials. Electrophysiological evidence found reduced P2 amplitudes for viewing the distractors and enhanced N2 amplitudes to the subsequent stop-signal in systole relative to diastole distractor trials. This indicated that systole bound distractors were suppressed more effectively than diastole bound ones which led to enhanced motor inhibition. Our results indicate that the brain shows greater visual selection efficiency for distracting information co-occurring with cardiac systole which has implications for enhanced motor processing at later stages of the trial sequence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda C Marshall
- Department of Psychology, General and Experimental Psychology Unit, LMU Munich, Leopoldstr. 13, D-80802, Munich, Germany.
| | - Qiaoyue Ren
- Department of Psychology, General and Experimental Psychology Unit, LMU Munich, Leopoldstr. 13, D-80802, Munich, Germany
| | - Lioba Enk
- Max-Planck-Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstr. 1a, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Max Planck School of Cognition, Stephanstr. 1a, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Junhui Liu
- Department of Psychology, General and Experimental Psychology Unit, LMU Munich, Leopoldstr. 13, D-80802, Munich, Germany
| | - Simone Schütz-Bosbach
- Department of Psychology, General and Experimental Psychology Unit, LMU Munich, Leopoldstr. 13, D-80802, Munich, Germany
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17
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Gonzalez-Herrero B, Happé F, Nicholson TR, Morgante F, Pagonabarraga J, Deeley Q, Edwards MJ. Functional Neurological Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Complex and Potentially Significant Relationship. Brain Behav 2024; 14:e70168. [PMID: 39705515 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.70168] [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: 08/31/2024] [Revised: 10/25/2024] [Accepted: 11/04/2024] [Indexed: 12/22/2024] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Functional neurological disorder (FND) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are two complex neuropsychiatric conditions that have been historically classified within psychiatric domains, resulting in a lack of extensive research, insufficient clinical recognition, and persistent societal stigma. In recent years, there has been an increasing recognition among professionals and affected individuals of their possible overlap. This review explores the potential clinical and mechanistic overlap between FND and ASD, with particular attention to shared symptoms across sensory, motor, and psychiatric domains. METHODS We conducted a narrative analysis utilizing the PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and ScienceDirect databases from inception to June 2024. The search employed specific MeSH terms related to ASD and FND. Given the limited data availability, we included all relevant articles that explored the potential connections between FND and ASD, focusing on established findings and theoretical hypotheses areas. RESULTS Scientific evidence indicates that FND and ASD may co-occur more frequently than previously acknowledged and with notable overlaps in their clinical presentations and pathophysiology. Theoretical models that have been applied to FND and ASD, such as the Bayesian brain theory and the tripartite model of autism, may provide valuable insights into the intersection of these conditions. Although much of the current evidence remains speculative, it underscores the need for hypothesis-driven research to investigate these potential connections further. CONCLUSION ASD and FND are heterogeneous conditions that appear to co-occur in a subset of individuals, with overlapping symptomatology and possibly shared underlying mechanisms. This hypothesis-generating review emphasizes the need for further research to better understand these links, ultimately aiming to improve clinical recognition and develop targeted interventions that enhance the quality of life for affected individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Belen Gonzalez-Herrero
- Departamento de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Spain
- Neurosciences and Cell Biology Institute, Neuromodulation and Motor Control Section, St George's University of London, London, UK
- Queen's Hospital, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals, Romford, UK
| | - Francesca Happé
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Timothy R Nicholson
- Neuropsychiatry Research & Education Group, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Francesca Morgante
- Neurosciences and Cell Biology Institute, Neuromodulation and Motor Control Section, St George's University of London, London, UK
| | - Javier Pagonabarraga
- Departamento de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación en Red-Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain
| | - Quinton Deeley
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- National Autism Unit, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Mark J Edwards
- Department of Clinical and Basic Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
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18
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Fourcade A, Klotzsche F, Hofmann SM, Mariola A, Nikulin VV, Villringer A, Gaebler M. Linking brain-heart interactions to emotional arousal in immersive virtual reality. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14696. [PMID: 39400349 PMCID: PMC11579222 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14696] [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: 01/26/2024] [Revised: 08/01/2024] [Accepted: 09/13/2024] [Indexed: 10/15/2024]
Abstract
The subjective experience of emotions is linked to the contextualized perception and appraisal of changes in bodily (e.g., heart) activity. Increased emotional arousal has been related to attenuated high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), lower EEG parieto-occipital alpha power, and higher heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) amplitudes. We studied emotional arousal-related brain-heart interactions using immersive virtual reality (VR) for naturalistic yet controlled emotion induction. Twenty-nine healthy adults (13 women, age: 26 ± 3) completed a VR experience that included rollercoasters while EEG and ECG were recorded. Continuous emotional arousal ratings were collected during a video replay immediately after. We analyzed emotional arousal-related changes in HF-HRV as well as in BHIs using HEPs. Additionally, we used the oscillatory information in the ECG and the EEG to model the directional information flows between the brain and heart activity. We found that higher emotional arousal was associated with lower HEP amplitudes in a left fronto-central electrode cluster. While parasympathetic modulation of the heart (HF-HRV) and parieto-occipital EEG alpha power were reduced during higher emotional arousal, there was no evidence for the hypothesized emotional arousal-related changes in bidirectional information flow between them. Whole-brain exploratory analyses in additional EEG (delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma) and HRV (low-frequency, LF, and HF) frequency bands revealed a temporo-occipital cluster, in which higher emotional arousal was linked to decreased brain-to-heart (i.e., gamma→HF-HRV) and increased heart-to-brain (i.e., LF-HRV → gamma) information flow. Our results confirm previous findings from less naturalistic experiments and suggest a link between emotional arousal and brain-heart interactions in temporo-occipital gamma power.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. Fourcade
- Max Planck School of CognitionLeipzigGermany
- Department of NeurologyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
- Faculty of PhilosophyBerlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - F. Klotzsche
- Department of NeurologyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
- Faculty of PhilosophyBerlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - S. M. Hofmann
- Department of NeurologyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
- Department of Artificial IntelligenceFraunhofer Institute Heinrich‐HertzBerlinGermany
| | - A. Mariola
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life SciencesUniversity of SussexBrightonUK
- School of PsychologyUniversity of SussexBrightonUK
| | - V. V. Nikulin
- Department of NeurologyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
| | - A. Villringer
- Max Planck School of CognitionLeipzigGermany
- Department of NeurologyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
- Faculty of PhilosophyBerlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - M. Gaebler
- Department of NeurologyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
- Faculty of PhilosophyBerlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
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19
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Fló E, Belloli L, Cabana Á, Ruyant-Belabbas A, Jodaitis L, Valente M, Rohaut B, Naccache L, Rosanova M, Comanducci A, Andrillon T, Sitt J. Predicting attentional focus: Heartbeat-evoked responses and brain dynamics during interoceptive and exteroceptive processing. PNAS NEXUS 2024; 3:pgae531. [PMID: 39677366 PMCID: PMC11645458 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 11/11/2024] [Indexed: 12/17/2024]
Abstract
Attention shapes our consciousness content and perception by increasing the probability of becoming aware and/or better encoding a selection of the incoming inner or outer sensory world. Engaging interoceptive and exteroceptive attention should elicit distinctive neural responses to visceral and external stimuli and could be useful in detecting covert command-following in unresponsive patients. We designed a task to engage healthy participants' attention toward their heartbeats or auditory stimuli and investigated whether brain dynamics and the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) distinguished covert interoceptive-exteroceptive attention. Exteroceptive attention yielded an overall flattening of the power spectral density (PSD), whereas during interoception, there was a decrease in complexity, an increase in frontal connectivity and theta oscillations, and a modulation of the HEP. Subject-level classifiers based on HEP features classified the attentional state of 17/20 participants. Kolmogorov complexity, permutation entropy, and weighted symbolic mutual information showed comparable accuracy in classifying covert attention and exhibited a synergic behavior with the HEP features. PSD features demonstrated exceptional performance (20/20). Command-following was assessed in five brain-injured patients with a modified version of the task. An unresponsive wakefulness syndrome/vegetative state patient and a locked-in syndrome patient demonstrated a willful modulation of the HEP and together with the explored brain markers suggest that patients were complying with task instructions. Our findings underscore the importance of attentional mechanisms in shaping interoceptive and exteroceptive sensory processing and expand the framework of heart-brain interactions employed for diagnostic purposes in patients with disorders of consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilia Fló
- Institut du Cerveau—Paris Brain Institute—ICM, Inserm, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, APHP,Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
- Facultad de Psicología, UdelaR, Instituto de Fundamentos y Métodos, 11200 Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Laouen Belloli
- Institut du Cerveau—Paris Brain Institute—ICM, Inserm, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, APHP,Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, C1425FQB Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Álvaro Cabana
- Facultad de Psicología, UdelaR, Instituto de Fundamentos y Métodos, 11200 Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Alessia Ruyant-Belabbas
- Institut du Cerveau—Paris Brain Institute—ICM, Inserm, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, APHP,Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Lise Jodaitis
- Département de Neurophysiologie, Assistance Publique—Hôpitaux de Paris, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Charles Foix, Sorbonne Université, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Melanie Valente
- Département de Neurophysiologie, Assistance Publique—Hôpitaux de Paris, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Charles Foix, Sorbonne Université, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Benjamin Rohaut
- Institut du Cerveau—Paris Brain Institute—ICM, Inserm, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, APHP,Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
- Département de Neurophysiologie, Assistance Publique—Hôpitaux de Paris, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Charles Foix, Sorbonne Université, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Lionel Naccache
- Institut du Cerveau—Paris Brain Institute—ICM, Inserm, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, APHP,Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
- Département de Neurophysiologie, Assistance Publique—Hôpitaux de Paris, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Charles Foix, Sorbonne Université, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Mario Rosanova
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy
| | - Angela Comanducci
- IRCSS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, 20162 Milan, Italy
- Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, 00128 Rome, Italy
| | - Thomas Andrillon
- Institut du Cerveau—Paris Brain Institute—ICM, Inserm, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, APHP,Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Jacobo Sitt
- Institut du Cerveau—Paris Brain Institute—ICM, Inserm, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, APHP,Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
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20
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Strohman A, Isaac G, Payne B, Verdonk C, Khalsa SS, Legon W. Low-intensity focused ultrasound to the insula differentially modulates the heartbeat-evoked potential: A proof-of-concept study. Clin Neurophysiol 2024; 167:267-281. [PMID: 39366795 PMCID: PMC11791892 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2024.09.006] [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: 03/19/2024] [Revised: 08/05/2024] [Accepted: 09/01/2024] [Indexed: 10/06/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The heartbeat evoked potential (HEP) is a brain response time-locked to the heartbeat and a potential marker of interoceptive processing that may be generated in the insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). Low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) can selectively modulate sub-regions of the insula and dACC to better understand their contributions to the HEP. METHODS Healthy participants (n = 16) received stereotaxically targeted LIFU to the anterior insula (AI), posterior insula (PI), dACC, or Sham at rest during continuous electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG) recording on separate days. Primary outcome was HEP amplitudes. Relationships between LIFU pressure and HEP changes and effects of LIFU on heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) were also explored. RESULTS Relative to sham, LIFU to the PI, but not AI or dACC, decreased HEP amplitudes; PI effects were partially explained by increased LIFU pressure. LIFU did not affect heart rate or HRV. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate the ability to modulate HEP amplitudes via non-invasive targeting of key interoceptive brain regions. SIGNIFICANCE Our findings have implications for the causal role of these areas in bottom-up heart-brain communication that could guide future work investigating the HEP as a marker of interoceptive processing in healthy and clinical populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Strohman
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech
Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Roanoke, VA,
24016, USA
- Graduate Program in Translational Biology, Medicine, and
Health, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Roanoke, VA, 24016,
USA
| | - Gabriel Isaac
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech
Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- School of Neuroscience, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24016, USA
| | - Brighton Payne
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech
Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
| | - Charles Verdonk
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK,
USA
- VIFASOM (EA 7330 Vigilance Fatigue, Sommeil et
Santé Publique), Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
- French Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute,
Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - Sahib S. Khalsa
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK,
USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel
Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine,
University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Wynn Legon
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech
Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Center for Human Neuroscience Research, Fralin Biomedical
Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Center for Health Behaviors Research, Fralin Biomedical
Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- School of Neuroscience, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24016, USA
- Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Roanoke, VA,
24016, USA
- Graduate Program in Translational Biology, Medicine, and
Health, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Roanoke, VA, 24016,
USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Carilion Clinic, Roanoke,
VA, 24016, USA
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21
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Sakuragi M, Tanaka Y, Shinagawa K, Tsuji K, Umeda S. Effects of unconscious tactile stimuli on autonomic nervous activity and afferent signal processing. Int J Psychophysiol 2024; 205:112444. [PMID: 39396623 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2024.112444] [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: 03/21/2024] [Revised: 08/13/2024] [Accepted: 10/02/2024] [Indexed: 10/15/2024]
Abstract
Autonomic nervous system (ANS) is a mechanism that regulates our internal environment. In recent years, the interest in how tactile stimuli presented directly to the body affect ANS function and cortical processing in humans has been renewed. However, it is not yet clear how subtle tactile stimuli below the level of consciousness affect human heart rate and cortical processing. To examine this, subthreshold electrical stimuli were presented to the left forearm of 43 participants during an image-viewing task, and electrocardiogram (ECG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) data were collected. The changes in the R-wave interval of the ECG immediately after the subthreshold electrical presentation and heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP), the afferent signal processing of cardiac activity, were measured. The results showed that heart rate decelerated immediately after the presentation of subthreshold electrical stimuli. The HEP during stimulus presentation was amplified for participants with greater heart rate acceleration immediately after this deceleration. The magnitude of these effects depended on the type of the subthreshold tactile stimuli. The results suggest that even with subthreshold stimulation, the changes in autonomic activity associated with orienting response and related afferent signal processing differ depending on the clarity of the tactile stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mai Sakuragi
- Department of Psychology, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan.
| | - Yuto Tanaka
- Keio University Global Research Institute, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan.
| | - Kazushi Shinagawa
- Keio University Global Research Institute, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan.
| | - Koki Tsuji
- Keio University Global Research Institute, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan.
| | - Satoshi Umeda
- Department of Psychology, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan; Keio University Global Research Institute, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan.
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22
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Lee W, Kim E, Park J, Eo J, Jeong B, Park HJ. Heartbeat-related spectral perturbation of electroencephalogram reflects dynamic interoceptive attention states in the trial-by-trial classification analysis. Neuroimage 2024; 299:120797. [PMID: 39159703 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120797] [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: 06/12/2024] [Revised: 07/24/2024] [Accepted: 08/14/2024] [Indexed: 08/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Attending to heartbeats for interoceptive awareness initiates distinct electrophysiological responses synchronized with the R-peaks of an electrocardiogram (ECG), such as the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP). Beyond HEP, this study proposes heartbeat-related spectral perturbation (HRSP), a time-frequency map of the R-peak locked electroencephalogram (EEG), and explores its characteristics in identifying interoceptive attention states using a classification approach. HRSPs of EEG brain components specified by independent component analysis (ICA) were used for the offline and online classification of interoceptive states. A convolutional neural network (CNN) designed specifically for HRSP was applied to publicly available data from a binary-state experiment (attending to self-heartbeats and white noise) and data from our four-state classification experiment (attending to self-heartbeats, white noise, time passage, and toe) with diverse input feature conditions of HRSP. From the dynamic state perspective, we evaluated the primary frequency bands of HRSP and the minimal number of averaging epochs required to reflect changing interoceptive attention states without compromising accuracy. We also assessed the utility of group ICA and models for classifying HRSP in new participants. The CNN for trial-by-trial HRSP with actual R-peaks demonstrated significantly higher classification accuracy than HRSP with sham, i.e., randomly positioned, R-peaks. Gradient-weighted class activation mapping highlighted the prominent role of theta and alpha bands between 200-600 ms post-R-peak-features absent in classifications using sham HRSPs. Online classification benefits from employing a group ICA and classification model, ensuring reliable accuracy without individual EEG precollection. These results suggest HRSP's potential to reflect interoceptive attention states, proposing transformative implications for clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wooyong Lee
- Graduate School of Medical Science, Brain Korea 21 Project, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Center for Systems and Translational Brain Science, Institute of Human Complexity and Systems Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Euisun Kim
- Graduate School of Medical Science, Brain Korea 21 Project, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Center for Systems and Translational Brain Science, Institute of Human Complexity and Systems Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jiyoung Park
- Center for Systems and Translational Brain Science, Institute of Human Complexity and Systems Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Cognitive Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jinseok Eo
- Graduate School of Medical Science, Brain Korea 21 Project, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Center for Systems and Translational Brain Science, Institute of Human Complexity and Systems Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Bumseok Jeong
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Hae-Jeong Park
- Graduate School of Medical Science, Brain Korea 21 Project, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Center for Systems and Translational Brain Science, Institute of Human Complexity and Systems Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Cognitive Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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23
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Ren Q, Marshall AC, Liu J, Schütz-Bosbach S. Listen to your heart: Trade-off between cardiac interoceptive processing and visual exteroceptive processing. Neuroimage 2024; 299:120808. [PMID: 39182709 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120808] [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: 04/02/2024] [Revised: 08/21/2024] [Accepted: 08/22/2024] [Indexed: 08/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Internal bodily signals, such as heartbeats, can influence conscious perception of external sensory information. Spontaneous shifts of attention between interoception and exteroception have been proposed as the underlying mechanism, but direct evidence is lacking. Here, we used steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) frequency tagging to independently measure the neural processing of visual stimuli that were concurrently presented but varied in heartbeat coupling in healthy participants. Although heartbeat coupling was irrelevant to participants' task of detecting brief color changes, we found decreased SSVEPs for systole-coupled stimuli and increased SSVEPs for diastole-coupled stimuli, compared to non-coupled stimuli. These results suggest that attentional and representational resources allocated to visual stimuli vary according to fluctuations in cardiac-related signals across the cardiac cycle, reflecting spontaneous and immediate competition between cardiac-related signals and visual events. Furthermore, frequent coupling of visual stimuli with stronger cardiac-related signals not only led to a larger heartbeat evoked potential (HEP) but also resulted in a smaller color change evoked N2 component, with the increase in HEP amplitude associated with a decrease in N2 amplitude. These findings indicate an overall or longer-term increase in brain resources allocated to the internal domain at the expense of reduced resources available for the external domain. Our study highlights the dynamic reallocation of limited processing resources across the internal-external axis and supports the trade-off between interoception and exteroception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiaoyue Ren
- Department of Psychology, General and Experimental Psychology Unit, LMU Munich, Leopoldstr. 13, Munich 80802, Germany
| | - Amanda C Marshall
- Department of Psychology, General and Experimental Psychology Unit, LMU Munich, Leopoldstr. 13, Munich 80802, Germany
| | - Junhui Liu
- Department of Psychology, General and Experimental Psychology Unit, LMU Munich, Leopoldstr. 13, Munich 80802, Germany
| | - Simone Schütz-Bosbach
- Department of Psychology, General and Experimental Psychology Unit, LMU Munich, Leopoldstr. 13, Munich 80802, Germany.
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24
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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; 9:1019-1027. [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] [MESH Headings] [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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25
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Zhuravlev M, Egorov E, Moskalenko O, Zhuravleva Y, Akimova N, Kiselev A, Drapkina O, Runnova A. Wavelet analysis of intermittent dynamics in nocturnal electrocardiography and electroencephalography data. CHAOS (WOODBURY, N.Y.) 2024; 34:081105. [PMID: 39177963 DOI: 10.1063/5.0227179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2024] [Accepted: 08/07/2024] [Indexed: 08/24/2024]
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a study of the characteristics of phase synchronization between electrocardiography(ECG) and electroencephalography (EEG) signals during night sleep. Polysomnographic recordings of eight generally healthy subjects and eight patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome were selected as experimental data. A feature of this study was the introduction of an instantaneous phase for EEG and ECG signals using a continuous wavelet transform at the heart rate frequency using the concept of time scale synchronization, which eliminated the emergence of asynchronous areas of behavior associated with the "leaving" of the fundamental frequency of the cardiovascular system. Instantaneous phase differences were examined for various pairs of EEG and ECG signals during night sleep, and it was shown that in all cases the phase difference exhibited intermittency. Laminar areas of behavior are intervals of phase synchronization, i.e., phase capture. Turbulent intervals are phase jumps of 2π. Statistical studies of the observed intermittent behavior were carried out, namely, distributions of the duration of laminar sections of behavior were estimated. For all pairs of channels, the duration of laminar phases obeyed an exponential law. Based on the analysis of the movement of the phase trajectory on a rotating plane at the moment of detection of the turbulent phase, it was established that in this case the eyelet intermittency was observed. There was no connection between the statistical characteristics of laminar phase distributions for intermittent behavior and the characteristics of night breathing disorders (apnea syndrome). It was found that changes in statistical characteristics in the phase synchronization of EEG and ECG signals were correlated with blood pressure at the time of signal recording in the subjects, which is an interesting effect that requires further research.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Zhuravlev
- Institute of Physics, Saratov State University, 410012 Saratov, Russia
- Saratov State Medical University, 410005 Saratov, Russia
- National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine, 101990 Moscow, Russia
| | - E Egorov
- Institute of Physics, Saratov State University, 410012 Saratov, Russia
- Saratov State Medical University, 410005 Saratov, Russia
| | - O Moskalenko
- Institute of Physics, Saratov State University, 410012 Saratov, Russia
| | - Yu Zhuravleva
- Saratov State Medical University, 410005 Saratov, Russia
| | - N Akimova
- Saratov State Medical University, 410005 Saratov, Russia
| | - A Kiselev
- National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine, 101990 Moscow, Russia
| | - O Drapkina
- National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine, 101990 Moscow, Russia
| | - A Runnova
- Saratov State Medical University, 410005 Saratov, Russia
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26
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Stoupi NA, Weijs ML, Imbach L, Lenggenhager B. Heartbeat-evoked potentials following voluntary hyperventilation in epilepsy patients: respiratory influences on cardiac interoception. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1391437. [PMID: 39035777 PMCID: PMC11259972 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1391437] [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: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 06/12/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Current evidence indicates a modulating role of respiratory processes in cardiac interoception, yet whether altered breathing patterns influence heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEP) remains inconclusive. Methods Here, we examined the effects of voluntary hyperventilation (VH) as part of a clinical routine examination on scalp-recorded HEPs in epilepsy patients (N = 80). Results Using cluster-based permutation analyses, HEP amplitudes were compared across pre-VH and post-VH conditions within young and elderly subgroups, as well as for the total sample. No differences in the HEP were detected for younger participants or across the full sample, while an increased late HEP during pre-VH compared to post-VH was fond in the senior group, denoting decreased cardiac interoceptive processing after hyperventilation. Discussion The present study, thus, provides initial evidence of breathing-related HEP modulations in elderly epilepsy patients, emphasizing the potential of HEP as an interoceptive neural marker that could partially extend to the representation of pulmonary signaling. We speculate that aberrant CO2-chemosensing, coupled with disturbances in autonomic regulation, might constitute the underlying pathophysiological mechanism behind the obtained effect. Available databases involving patient records of routine VH assessment may constitute a valuable asset in disentangling the interplay of cardiac and ventilatory interoceptive information in various patient groups, providing thorough clinical data to parse, as well as increased statistical power and estimates of effects with higher precision through large-scale studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niovi A Stoupi
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Marieke L Weijs
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Lukas Imbach
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Swiss Epilepsy Center, Klinik Lengg, Zürich, Switzerland
- Zurich Neuroscience Center, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
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27
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Verdonk C, Teed AR, White EJ, Ren X, Stewart JL, Paulus MP, Khalsa SS. Heartbeat-evoked neural response abnormalities in generalized anxiety disorder during peripheral adrenergic stimulation. Neuropsychopharmacology 2024; 49:1246-1254. [PMID: 38291167 PMCID: PMC11224228 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-024-01806-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Hyperarousal symptoms in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are often incongruent with the observed physiological state, suggesting that abnormal processing of interoceptive signals is a characteristic feature of the disorder. To examine the neural mechanisms underlying interoceptive dysfunction in GAD, we evaluated whether adrenergic modulation of cardiovascular signaling differentially affects the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP), an electrophysiological marker of cardiac interoception, during concurrent electroencephalogram and functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) scanning. Intravenous infusions of the peripheral adrenergic agonist isoproterenol (0.5 and 2.0 micrograms, μg) were administered in a randomized, double-blinded and placebo-controlled fashion to dynamically perturb the cardiovascular system while recording the associated EEG-fMRI responses. During the 0.5 μg isoproterenol infusion, the GAD group (n = 24) exhibited significantly larger changes in HEP amplitude in an opposite direction than the healthy comparison (HC) group (n = 24). In addition, the GAD group showed significantly larger absolute HEP amplitudes than the HC group during saline infusions, when cardiovascular tone did not increase. No significant group differences in HEP amplitude were identified during the 2.0 μg isoproterenol infusion. Using analyzable blood oxygenation level-dependent fMRI data from participants with concurrent EEG-fMRI data (21 GAD and 21 HC), we found that the aforementioned HEP effects were uncorrelated with fMRI signals in the insula, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, and somatosensory cortex, brain regions implicated in cardiac signal processing in prior fMRI studies. These findings provide additional evidence of dysfunctional cardiac interoception in GAD and identify neural processes at the electrophysiological level that may be independent from blood oxygen level-dependent responses during peripheral adrenergic stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Verdonk
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
- VIFASOM (EA 7330 Vigilance Fatigue, Sommeil et Santé Publique), Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
- French Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute, Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - Adam R Teed
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Evan J White
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Xi Ren
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Jennifer L Stewart
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Martin P Paulus
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Sahib S Khalsa
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA.
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA.
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28
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Koreki A, Ogyu K, Miyazaki T, Takenouchi K, Matsushita K, Honda S, Koizumi T, Onaya M, Uchida H, Mimura M, Nakajima S, Noda Y. Aberrant heartbeat-evoked potential in schizophrenia. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2024; 132:110969. [PMID: 38369098 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2024.110969] [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: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Self-disturbance is considered a core feature underlying the psychopathology of schizophrenia. Interoception has an important role in the development of a sense of self, leading to increased interest in the potential contribution of abnormal interoception to self-disturbances in schizophrenia. Several neuropsychological studies have demonstrated aberrant interoception in schizophrenia. However, cortical interoceptive processing has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Thus, we sought to examine resting-state heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) in this population. We hypothesized that patients with schizophrenia would exhibit significant alterations in HEP compared to healthy controls (HCs). In this cross-sectional electroencephalogram (EEG) study, we compared the HEPs between age- and sex-matched groups of patients with schizophrenia and HCs. A 10-min resting-state EEG with eyes closed and an electrocardiogram (ECG) were recorded and analyzed for the time window of 450 ms to 500 ms after an ECG R peak. A positive HEP shift was observed in the frontal-central regions (F [1, 82] = 7.402, p = 0.008, partial η2 = 0.009) in patients with schizophrenia (n = 61) when compared with HCs (n = 31) after adjusting for confounders such as age, sex, and heart rate. A cluster-based correction analysis revealed that the HEP around the right frontal area (Fp2, F4, and F8) showed the most significant group differences (F [1, 82] = 10.079, p = 0.002, partial η2 = 0.021), with a peak at the F4 electrode site (F [1, 82] = 12.646, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.069). We observed no correlation between HEP and symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. A positive shift of HEP during the late component could reflect a trait abnormality in schizophrenia. Further research is required to determine the association between the altered cortical interoceptive processing indexed with HEP and self-disturbances in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akihiro Koreki
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, National Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical Center, Chiba, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, National Hospital Organization Chiba-Higashi Hospital, Chiba, Japan
| | - Kamiyu Ogyu
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, National Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical Center, Chiba, Japan
| | - Takahiro Miyazaki
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kazumasa Takenouchi
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, National Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical Center, Chiba, Japan
| | - Karin Matsushita
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shiori Honda
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Teruki Koizumi
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, National Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical Center, Chiba, Japan
| | - Mitsumoto Onaya
- Department of Psychiatry, National Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical Center, Chiba, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Uchida
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Masaru Mimura
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shinichiro Nakajima
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Yoshihiro Noda
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
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Yoris AE, Cira LF, Luque-Casado A, Salvotti C, Tajadura-Jiménez A, Avancini C, Zarza-Rebollo JA, Sanabria D, Perakakis P. Delving into the relationship between regular physical exercise and cardiac interoception in two cross-sectional studies. Neuropsychologia 2024; 198:108867. [PMID: 38518888 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108867] [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: 11/21/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
Cardiac interoception, the ability to sense and process cardiac afferent signals, has been shown to improve after a single session of acute physical exercise. However, it remains unclear whether repetitive engagement in physical exercise over time leads to long-term changes in cardiac interoceptive accuracy. It is also unknown whether those changes affect the neural activity associated with the processing of afferent cardiac signals, assessed by the heart-evoked potential (HEP). In this study, we aimed to investigate this hypothesis through two cross-sectional studies, categorizing participants as active or inactive based on physical fitness (Study I; N = 45) or self-reported physical activity levels (Study II; N = 60). Interoception was assessed at rest using the HEP (Studies I and II), the Heartbeat Counting task (Study II), and the Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) (Study II). Study I showed strong evidence of better cardiovascular fitness in the active group than in the inactive group as well as robust between-group differences in electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings. Study 2 replicated the clear differences in ECG as a function of regular physical activity. Those results were expected due to clear differences in physical activity habits. In contrast, our analysis revealed no robust differences between groups across cardiac interoception tasks and the RHI, although the direct relevance of these measures to interoception remains under investigation. In sum, our results do not provide convincing evidence to support a strong version of the notion that regular physical exercise is associated with an enhanced in cardiac interoception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrián E Yoris
- Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional (INCYT), INECO-Favaloro-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Luis F Cira
- Mind Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Spain; Departamento de Psicología Experimental, Universidad de Granada, Spain
| | | | - Caterina Salvotti
- Department of Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, Spain
| | - Ana Tajadura-Jiménez
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain; UCL Interaction Centre, University College London, United Kingdom
| | - Chiara Avancini
- Mind Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Spain; Departamento de Psicología Experimental, Universidad de Granada, Spain
| | | | - Daniel Sanabria
- Mind Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Spain; Departamento de Psicología Experimental, Universidad de Granada, Spain
| | - Pandelis Perakakis
- Department of Social, Work, and Differential Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
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Haruki Y, Ogawa K. Disrupted interoceptive awareness by auditory distractor: Difficulty inferring the internal bodily states? Neurosci Res 2024; 202:30-38. [PMID: 37935335 DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2023.11.002] [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: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 10/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
Recent studies have associated interoceptive awareness, the perception of internal bodily sensations, with a predictive mechanism of perception across all sensory modalities. According to the framework, volitional attention plays a pivotal role in interoceptive awareness by prioritizing interoceptive sensations over exteroceptive ones. Consequently, it is hypothesized that the presence of irrelevant stimuli would disrupt the attentional modulation and interoceptive awareness, which remains untested. In this study, we investigated if interoceptive awareness is diminished by unrelated auditory distractors to validate the proposed perceptual framework. A total of 30 healthy human volunteers performed the heartbeat counting task both with and without auditory distractors. Additionally, we measured participant's psychophysiological traits related to interoception, including the high-frequency component of heart rate variability (HF-HRV) and trait interoceptive sensibility. The results showed that interoceptive accuracy, confidence, and heartbeat intensity decreased in the presence of distractor sound. Moreover, individuals with higher HF-HRV and a greater tendency to worry about bodily states experienced a more pronounced distractor effect on interoceptive awareness. These results provide support for the perceptual mechanism of interoceptive awareness in terms of the predictive process, highlighting the impact of relative precision across interoceptive and exteroceptive signals on perceptual experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuke Haruki
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Tokyo 102-8472, Japan.
| | - Kenji Ogawa
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
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Cambi S, Solcà M, Micali N, Berchio C. Cardiac interoception in Anorexia Nervosa: A resting-state heartbeat-evoked potential study. EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW 2024; 32:417-430. [PMID: 38009624 DOI: 10.1002/erv.3049] [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: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE A deficit in interoception - the ability to perceive, interpret and integrate afferent signals about the physiological state of the body - has been shown in Anorexia Nervosa (AN), and linked to altered hunger sensations, body dysmorphia, and abnormal emotional awareness. The present high-density electroencephalography (hdEEG) study aims to assess cardiac interoception in AN and to investigate its neural correlates, using an objective neurophysiological measure. METHOD Heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs) were computed from 5 min of resting-state EEG and electrocardiogram (ECG) data and compared between individuals with AN (N = 22) and healthy controls (HC) (N = 19) with waveform, topographic, and source imaging analyses. RESULTS Differences in the cortical representation of heartbeats were present between AN and HC at a time window of 332-348 ms after the ECG R-peak. Source imaging analyses revealed a right-sided hypoactivation in AN of brain regions linked to interoceptive processing, such as the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal areas. CONCLUSIONS To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study using hdEEG to localise the underlying sources of HEPs in AN. Results point to altered interoceptive processing during resting-state in AN. As our participants had a short duration of illness, this might not be the consequence of prolonged starvation. Interventions targeted at interoception could provide an additional tool to facilitate recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Cambi
- Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Marco Solcà
- Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Nadia Micali
- Mental Health Services of the Capital Region of Denmark, Center for Eating and Feeding Disorders Research, Psychiatric Centre Ballerup, Ballerup, Denmark
- University College London, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK
| | - Cristina Berchio
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
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Zaccaro A, della Penna F, Mussini E, Parrotta E, Perrucci MG, Costantini M, Ferri F. Attention to cardiac sensations enhances the heartbeat-evoked potential during exhalation. iScience 2024; 27:109586. [PMID: 38623333 PMCID: PMC11016802 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Respiration and cardiac activity intricately interact through complex physiological mechanisms. The heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) is an EEG fluctuation reflecting the cortical processing of cardiac signals. We recently found higher HEP amplitude during exhalation than inhalation during a task involving attention to cardiac sensations. This may have been due to reduced cardiac perception during inhalation and heightened perception during exhalation through attentional mechanisms. To investigate relationships between HEP, attention, and respiration, we introduced an experimental setup that included tasks related to cardiac and respiratory interoceptive and exteroceptive attention. Results revealed HEP amplitude increases during the interoceptive tasks over fronto-central electrodes. When respiratory phases were taken into account, HEP increases were primarily driven by heartbeats recorded during exhalation, specifically during the cardiac interoceptive task, while inhalation had minimal impact. These findings emphasize the role of respiration in cardiac interoceptive attention and could have implications for respiratory interventions to fine-tune cardiac interoception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Zaccaro
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Francesca della Penna
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Elena Mussini
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Eleonora Parrotta
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Mauro Gianni Perrucci
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, ITAB, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Marcello Costantini
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, ITAB, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Francesca Ferri
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, ITAB, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
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Strohman A, Isaac G, Payne B, Verdonk C, Khalsa SS, Legon W. Low-intensity focused ultrasound to the human insular cortex differentially modulates the heartbeat-evoked potential: a proof-of-concept study. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.08.584152. [PMID: 38559271 PMCID: PMC10979877 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.08.584152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Background The heartbeat evoked potential (HEP) is a brain response time-locked to the heartbeat and a potential marker of interoceptive processing. The insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) are brain regions that may be involved in generating the HEP. Low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique that can selectively target sub-regions of the insula and dACC to better understand their contributions to the HEP. Objective Proof-of-concept study to determine whether LIFU modulation of the anterior insula (AI), posterior insula (PI), and dACC influences the HEP. Methods In a within-subject, repeated-measures design, healthy human participants (n=16) received 10 minutes of stereotaxically targeted LIFU to the AI, PI, dACC or Sham at rest during continuous electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG) recording on separate days. Primary outcome was change in HEP amplitudes. Relationships between LIFU pressure and HEP changes were examined using linear mixed modelling. Peripheral indices of visceromotor output including heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) were explored between conditions. Results Relative to sham, LIFU to the PI, but not AI or dACC, decreased HEP amplitudes; this was partially explained by increased LIFU pressure. LIFU did not affect time or frequency dependent measures of HRV. Conclusions These results demonstrate the ability to modulate HEP amplitudes via non-invasive targeting of key interoceptive brain regions. Our findings have implications for the causal role of these areas in bottom-up heart-brain communication that could guide future work investigating the HEP as a marker of interoceptive processing in healthy and clinical populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Strohman
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Graduate Program in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
| | - Gabriel Isaac
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- School of Neuroscience, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24016, USA
| | - Brighton Payne
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
| | - Charles Verdonk
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
- VIFASOM (EA 7330 Vigilance Fatigue, Sommeil et Santé Publique), Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
- French Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute, Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - Sahib S. Khalsa
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Wynn Legon
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Center for Human Neuroscience Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Center for Health Behaviors Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- School of Neuroscience, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24016, USA
- Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Graduate Program in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Carilion Clinic, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
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Ventura‐Bort C, Weymar M. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation modulates the processing of interoceptive prediction error signals and their role in allostatic regulation. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26613. [PMID: 38379451 PMCID: PMC10879907 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26613] [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: 08/17/2023] [Revised: 01/03/2024] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
It has recently been suggested that predictive processing principles may apply to interoception, defined as the processing of hormonal, autonomic, visceral, and immunological signals. In the current study, we aimed at providing empirical evidence for the role of cardiac interoceptive prediction errors signals on allostatic adjustments, using transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) as a tool to modulate the processing of interoceptive afferents. In a within-subject design, participants performed a cardiac-related interoceptive task (heartbeat counting task) under taVNS and sham stimulation, spaced 1-week apart. We observed that taVNS, in contrast to sham stimulation, facilitated the maintenance of interoceptive accuracy levels over time (from the initial, stimulation-free, baseline block to subsequent stimulation blocks), suggesting that vagus nerve stimulation may have helped to maintain engagement to cardiac afferent signals. During the interoceptive task, taVNS compared to sham, produced higher heart-evoked potentials (HEP) amplitudes, a potential readout measure of cardiac-related prediction error processing. Further analyses revealed that the positive relation between interoceptive accuracy and allostatic adjustments-as measured by heart rate variability (HRV)-was mediated by HEP amplitudes. Providing initial support for predictive processing accounts of interoception, our results suggest that the stimulation of the vagus nerve may increase the precision with which interoceptive signals are processed, favoring their influence on allostatic adjustments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Ventura‐Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human SciencesUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human SciencesUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
- Faculty of Health Sciences BrandenburgUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
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35
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Zhou M, Zhu S, Xu T, Wang J, Zhuang Q, Zhang Y, Becker B, Kendrick KM, Yao S. Neural and behavioral evidence for oxytocin's facilitatory effects on learning in volatile and stable environments. Commun Biol 2024; 7:109. [PMID: 38242969 PMCID: PMC10799007 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-05792-8] [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: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 01/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Outcomes of past decisions profoundly shape our behavior. However, choice-outcome associations can become volatile and adaption to such changes is of importance. The present study combines pharmaco-electroencephalography with computational modeling to examine whether intranasal oxytocin can modulate reinforcement learning under a volatile vs. a stable association. Results show that oxytocin increases choice accuracy independent of learning context, which is paralleled by a larger N2pc and a smaller P300. Model-based analyses reveal that while oxytocin promotes learning by accelerating value update of outcomes in the volatile context, in the stable context it does so by improving choice consistency. These findings suggest that oxytocin's facilitatory effects on learning may be exerted via improving early attentional selection and late neural processing efficiency, although at the computational level oxytocin's actions are highly adaptive between learning contexts. Our findings provide proof of concept for oxytocin's therapeutic potential in mental disorders with adaptive learning dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Menghan Zhou
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
- The MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Siyu Zhu
- School of Sport Training, Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, China
| | - Ting Xu
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
- The MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Jiayuan Wang
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
- The MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Qian Zhuang
- The MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
- Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
| | - Yuan Zhang
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
- The MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Benjamin Becker
- The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Pokfulam, China
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Pokfulam, China
| | - Keith M Kendrick
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
- The MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Shuxia Yao
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.
- The MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
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Kim E, Joss D, Marin F, Anzolin A, Gawande R, Comeau A, Ellis S, Bumpus C, Cahn BR, Kim MWD, Napadow V, Schuman-Olivier Z. Protocol for a Pilot Study on the Neurocardiac Mechanism of an Interoceptive Compassion-Based Heart-Smile Training for Depression. GLOBAL ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE AND HEALTH 2024; 13:27536130241299389. [PMID: 39498312 PMCID: PMC11533199 DOI: 10.1177/27536130241299389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2024] [Revised: 10/18/2024] [Accepted: 10/25/2024] [Indexed: 11/07/2024]
Abstract
Background Heart-Smile Training (HST) is an interoceptive compassion-based behavioral intervention that in case reports has been beneficial for depression. Interoception refers to the awareness and regulation of physiological signals from inside the body. Depressed patients often have diminished interoceptive awareness and often experience disconnection from bodily needs and sensations. In addition to interoceptive dysfunction, depression often involves negative self-evaluation and self-critical rumination. HST is a compassion-based meditation training program that explicitly cultivates interoceptive awareness of the heart area. This study aims to investigate the possible neurocardiac mechanisms engaged through HST for depression patients. Methods We plan to enroll 50 subjects to be randomized into a 4-week HST intervention group and a waitlist group. A battery of psychological questionnaires will be administered at baseline and post-intervention timepoints, and electroencephalography (EEG) will be collected during compassion meditation guided by pre-recorded audio. The primary clinical outcome measures are on the feasibility of the intervention and research procedures, the primary mechanistic outcome measure is the post-intervention change in Heartbeat Evoked Potential (HEP) amplitude. Secondary outcome measures include changes in depression severity and EEG gamma spectral activity. Exploratory outcome measures include effects of HST on skin conductance response, heart rate variability, EEG spectral properties in other frequency bands, as well as a list of psychological questionnaires that measure depression and anxiety symptoms, emotion regulation, mindfulness, interoceptive awareness, self-compassion, gratitude, sleep quality, quality of life and social connectedness. Results Results not yet available. Conclusion This is the first study on the feasibility and interoceptive neurocardiac mechanism of HST. Our findings will provide frontier knowledge on the physiological working mechanism of behavioral interventions with an interoception-based meditative approach. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05564533.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eunmi Kim
- Center for Contemplative Science, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
- Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Diane Joss
- Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Frannie Marin
- Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alessandra Anzolin
- Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Richa Gawande
- Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alexandra Comeau
- Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Seneca Ellis
- Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Clare Bumpus
- Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - B. Rael Cahn
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Misan W. D. Kim
- Center for Contemplative Science, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Vitaly Napadow
- Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Zev Schuman-Olivier
- Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Verdonk C, Teed AR, White EJ, Ren X, Stewart JL, Paulus MP, Khalsa SS. Heartbeat-evoked neural response abnormalities in generalized anxiety disorder during peripheral adrenergic stimulation. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.06.09.23291166. [PMID: 37398268 PMCID: PMC10312828 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.09.23291166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
Hyperarousal symptoms in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are often incongruent with the observed physiological state, suggesting that abnormal processing of interoceptive signals is a characteristic feature of the disorder. To examine the neural mechanisms underlying interoceptive dysfunction in GAD, we evaluated whether adrenergic modulation of cardiovascular signaling differentially affects the heartbeat evoked potential (HEP), an electrophysiological marker of cardiac interoception, during concurrent electroencephalogram and functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) scanning. Intravenous infusions of the peripheral adrenergic agonist isoproterenol (0.5 and 2.0 micrograms, μg) were administered in a randomized, double-blinded and placebo-controlled fashion to dynamically perturb the cardiovascular system while recording the associated EEG-fMRI responses. During the 0.5 μg isoproterenol infusion, the GAD group (n=24) exhibited significantly larger changes in HEP amplitude in an opposite direction than the HC group (n=24). In addition, the GAD group showed significantly larger absolute HEP amplitudes than HC during saline infusions, when cardiovascular tone did not increase. No significant group differences in HEP amplitude were identified during the 2.0 μg isoproterenol infusion. Using analyzable blood oxygenation level dependent fMRI data from participants with concurrent EEG-fMRI data (21 GAD and 21 HC), we found that the aforementioned HEP effects were uncorrelated with fMRI signals in the insula, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, and somatosensory cortex, brain regions implicated in cardiac signal processing according to prior fMRI studies. These findings provide additional evidence of dysfunctional cardiac interoception in GAD and identify neural processes at the electrophysiological level that may be independent from blood oxygen level-dependent responses during peripheral adrenergic stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Verdonk
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
- VIFASOM (EA 7330 Vigilance Fatigue, Sommeil et Santé Publique), Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
- French Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute, Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - Adam R. Teed
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
| | - Evan J. White
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
| | - Xi Ren
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
| | - Jennifer L. Stewart
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
| | - Martin P. Paulus
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
| | - Sahib S. Khalsa
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
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Rapp L, Mai-Lippold SA, Georgiou E, Pollatos O. Elevated EEG heartbeat-evoked potentials in adolescents with more ADHD symptoms. Biol Psychol 2023; 184:108698. [PMID: 37775030 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108698] [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: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 09/23/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/01/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are associated with a variety of mental abnormalities, but little is known about the perception and processing of internal signals, i.e., interoception, in individuals with ADHD symptoms. This study aimed to investigate the association between ADHD symptoms and the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP), known as a neural correlate of automatic interoceptive processing of cardiac signals, in adolescents. METHODS HEPs of 47 healthy adolescent participants (53.2 % female) with a mean age of 14.29 years were measured during an emotional face recognition task. In addition, participants completed a self-report screening for ADHD symptoms. RESULTS ADHD symptoms were positively related to the HEP activity during the task in three of eight EEG sectors in the left hemisphere, as well as in all sectors in the right hemisphere. DISCUSSION This study is the first to demonstrate preliminary a relationship between the strength of HEP activity and ADHD symptoms in awake subjects. This finding of higher HEP amplitudes in subjects with more ADHD symptoms can be interpreted in terms of (i) increased arousal, (ii) altered neural processing of internal processes in an emotion-relevant task, and (iii) a misaligned precision-weighting process of task-irrelevant stimuli according to the predictive coding framework. These different interpretations could be reflected by previous studies showing heterogeneity of psychological deficits in individuals with ADHD symptoms. However, the generalizability to patients with diagnosed ADHD is limited due to the measurement tool for ADHD symptoms and the sample characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenz Rapp
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 47, 89069 Ulm, Germany.
| | - Sandra A Mai-Lippold
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 47, 89069 Ulm, Germany
| | - Eleana Georgiou
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 47, 89069 Ulm, Germany
| | - Olga Pollatos
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 47, 89069 Ulm, Germany
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Antonacci Y, Barà C, Zaccaro A, Ferri F, Pernice R, Faes L. Time-varying information measures: an adaptive estimation of information storage with application to brain-heart interactions. FRONTIERS IN NETWORK PHYSIOLOGY 2023; 3:1242505. [PMID: 37920446 PMCID: PMC10619917 DOI: 10.3389/fnetp.2023.1242505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Network Physiology is a rapidly growing field of study that aims to understand how physiological systems interact to maintain health. Within the information theory framework the information storage (IS) allows to measure the regularity and predictability of a dynamic process under stationarity assumption. However, this assumption does not allow to track over time the transient pathways occurring in the dynamical activity of a physiological system. To address this limitation, we propose a time-varying approach based on the recursive least squares algorithm (RLS) for estimating IS at each time instant, in non-stationary conditions. We tested this approach in simulated time-varying dynamics and in the analysis of electroencephalographic (EEG) signals recorded from healthy volunteers and timed with the heartbeat to investigate brain-heart interactions. In simulations, we show that the proposed approach allows to track both abrupt and slow changes in the information stored in a physiological system. These changes are reflected in its evolution and variability over time. The analysis of brain-heart interactions reveals marked differences across the cardiac cycle phases of the variability of the time-varying IS. On the other hand, the average IS values exhibit a weak modulation over parieto-occiptal areas of the scalp. Our study highlights the importance of developing more advanced methods for measuring IS that account for non-stationarity in physiological systems. The proposed time-varying approach based on RLS represents a useful tool for identifying spatio-temporal dynamics within the neurocardiac system and can contribute to the understanding of brain-heart interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuri Antonacci
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Chiara Barà
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Andrea Zaccaro
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Francesca Ferri
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Riccardo Pernice
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Luca Faes
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
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Parfenov EA, Duncan NW. Increasing familiarity with the heartbeat counting task does not affect performance. Biol Psychol 2023; 183:108662. [PMID: 37598881 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108662] [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: 01/30/2023] [Revised: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Interoception is typically defined as the processing and perception of internal signals. A common evaluation of interoceptive abilities is the heartbeat counting task, during which participants count their heartbeats over a period of time. It has been argued recently, however, that performance in this task may reflect processes other than cardiac sensation. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to: 1) observe heartbeat counting task performance changes across multiple repetitions of the task; and 2) compare performance in the heartbeat counting task with that for a visual counting task to investigate generalised propensities for how uncertain stimuli are reported. METHODS Seventy-nine healthy participants performed seven blocks each of the heartbeat and visual counting tasks. Scores for each of the tasks were compared across blocks to identify any change in performance. Performance in the two tasks was then correlated. The study was preregistered at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/GWAB7. RESULTS Heartbeat counting task performance did not change over blocks. In contrast, scores for the visual counting task reduced over time. A positive correlation was seen between performance in the two tasks (ρ(79) = .27). CONCLUSION Heartbeat counting task performance is stable across repetitions of the task, not changing with increasing familiarity. This suggests that non-interoceptive factors, such as beliefs, may be involved. The correlation between the heartbeat and visual counting tasks may point to a general propensity in counting uncertain stimuli across sensory domains. Together, these results raise questions about the interpretation of the heartbeat counting task as a measure of interoception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evgeny A Parfenov
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Niall W Duncan
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
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Engelen T, Solcà M, Tallon-Baudry C. Interoceptive rhythms in the brain. Nat Neurosci 2023; 26:1670-1684. [PMID: 37697110 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01425-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/13/2023]
Abstract
Sensing internal bodily signals, or interoception, is fundamental to maintain life. However, interoception should not be viewed as an isolated domain, as it interacts with exteroception, cognition and action to ensure the integrity of the organism. Focusing on cardiac, respiratory and gastric rhythms, we review evidence that interoception is anatomically and functionally intertwined with the processing of signals from the external environment. Interactions arise at all stages, from the peripheral transduction of interoceptive signals to sensory processing and cortical integration, in a network that extends beyond core interoceptive regions. Interoceptive rhythms contribute to functions ranging from perceptual detection up to sense of self, or conversely compete with external inputs. Renewed interest in interoception revives long-standing issues on how the brain integrates and coordinates information in distributed regions, by means of oscillatory synchrony, predictive coding or multisensory integration. Considering interoception and exteroception in the same framework paves the way for biological modes of information processing specific to living organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tahnée Engelen
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory, Inserm, Ecole Normale Supérieure PSL University, Paris, France
| | - Marco Solcà
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory, Inserm, Ecole Normale Supérieure PSL University, Paris, France
| | - Catherine Tallon-Baudry
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory, Inserm, Ecole Normale Supérieure PSL University, Paris, France.
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Kamp SM, Buntić N, Amtmann J, Scharpf A, Schönen A, Wagner L, Schulz A. Reduced concentration performance and heartbeat-evoked potential in individuals with a history of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Neurosci Lett 2023; 814:137466. [PMID: 37652352 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2023.137466] [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: 02/14/2023] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
The goal of characterizing long-term psychological and neural consequences of a SARS-CoV-2 infection has recently gained importance. Here, we examined the effect of a prior SARS-CoV-2 infection on neural markers of exteroceptive (P300) and interoceptive (heartbeat-evoked potential; HEP) signal processing, as well as on neuropsychological tests of attention, inhibition and episodic memory, in 23 adults with a self-reported history of SARS-CoV-2 infection versus 23 healthy controls. We found that the group with a prior infection showed decreased HEP (but not P300) amplitudes, as well as reduced attention/concentration performance. These results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 may damage neural structures of cardiac interoception, thereby potentially contributing to cognitive and psychological long-term deficits. Modulations of interoceptive processing after a SARS-CoV-2 infection are thus a promising target for future research.
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Callara AL, Fontanelli L, Belcari I, Rho G, Greco A, Zelič Ž, Sebastiani L, Santarcangelo EL. Modulation of the heartbeat evoked cortical potential by hypnotizability and hypnosis. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14309. [PMID: 37070749 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023]
Abstract
Hypnotizability is a psychophysiological trait measured by scales and associated with several differences, including interoceptive accuracy and the morpho-functional characteristics of interoception-related brain regions. The aim of the study was to assess whether the amplitude of the heartbeat evoked cortical potential (HEP), a correlate of interoceptive accuracy, differs in participants with low (lows) and high (highs) hypnotizability scores (assessed by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A) before and after the induction of hypnosis. ECG and EEG were monitored in 16 highs and 15 lows during an experimental session, including open eyes baseline (B), closed eyes relaxation (R), hypnotic induction (IND), neutral hypnosis (NH), and post session baseline (Post). No significant difference was observed between groups and conditions in autonomic variables. The HEP amplitude was lower in highs than in lows at the right parietal site, likely due to hypnotizability related differences in the functional connection between the right insula and parietal cortex. It increased in highs and decreased in lows across the session, possibly due to the highs' preeminently internally directed attention and to the lows' possible disengagement from the task. Since interoception is involved in several cognitive-emotional functions, its hypnotizability related differences may contribute to the variability of experience and behavior in daily life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Luis Callara
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Research Center "E. Piaggio", University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Fontanelli
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Iacopo Belcari
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Gianluca Rho
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Alberto Greco
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Research Center "E. Piaggio", University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Žan Zelič
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Laura Sebastiani
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Enrica L Santarcangelo
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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Tanaka Y, Ito Y, Terasawa Y, Umeda S. Modulation of heartbeat-evoked potential and cardiac cycle effect by auditory stimuli. Biol Psychol 2023; 182:108637. [PMID: 37490801 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108637] [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: 08/22/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023]
Abstract
Interoception has been proposed as a factor that influences various psychological processes (Khalsa et al., 2018). Afferent signals from the cardiovascular system vary across cardiac cycle phases. Heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEP) and event-related potentials (ERP) were measured to examine whether interoceptive signals differed between cardiac cycle phases. Simultaneously, participants performed an auditory oddball task in which the timing of the presenting stimulus was synchronized with the heartbeat. Pure tones were presented at 10 ms (late diastole condition), 200 ms (systole condition), or 500 ms after the R wave (diastole condition). Greater HEP amplitudes were observed when the tone was presented during diastole than during systole or late diastole. ERP showed the same tendency: a greater amplitude was observed during diastole than systole or late diastole. These results suggest that the processing of interoception reflected by HEP and exteroception reflected by ERP share attentional resources when both stimuli coincide. When the tone was presented during systole, attention to the internal state decreased compared with when the tone was presented during diastole, and attention was distributed to both exteroception and interoception. Our study suggests that HEP may be considered an indication of a relative amount of resources to process the interoception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuto Tanaka
- Global Research Institute, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan.
| | - Yuichi Ito
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kwansei Gakuin University, 1-155 Uegahara Ichibancho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 662-8501, Japan
| | - Yuri Terasawa
- Department of Psychology, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan
| | - Satoshi Umeda
- Department of Psychology, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan
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Elkommos S, Martin-Lopez D, Koreki A, Jolliffe C, Kandasamy R, Mula M, Critchley HD, Edwards MJ, Garfinkel S, Richardson MP, Yogarajah M. Changes in the heartbeat-evoked potential are associated with functional seizures. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2023; 94:769-775. [PMID: 37230745 DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2022-330167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Patients with functional seizures (FS) can experience dissociation (depersonalisation) before their seizures. Depersonalisation reflects disembodiment, which may be related to changes in interoceptive processing. The heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) is an electroencephalogram (EEG) marker of interoceptive processing. AIM To assess whether alterations in interoceptive processing indexed by HEP occur prior to FS and compare this with epileptic seizures (ES). METHODS HEP amplitudes were calculated from EEG during video-EEG monitoring in 25 patients with FS and 19 patients with ES, and were compared between interictal and preictal states. HEP amplitude difference was calculated as preictal HEP amplitude minus interictal HEP amplitude. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of HEP amplitude difference in discriminating FS from ES. RESULTS The FS group demonstrated a significant reduction in HEP amplitude between interictal and preictal states at F8 (effect size rB=0.612, false discovery rate (FDR)-corrected q=0.030) and C4 (rB=0.600, FDR-corrected q=0.035). No differences in HEP amplitude were found between states in the ES group. Between diagnostic groups, HEP amplitude difference differed between the FS and ES groups at F8 (rB=0.423, FDR-corrected q=0.085) and C4 (rB=0.457, FDR-corrected q=0.085). Using HEP amplitude difference at frontal and central electrodes plus sex, we found that the ROC curve demonstrated an area under the curve of 0.893, with sensitivity=0.840 and specificity=0.842. CONCLUSION Our data support the notion that aberrant interoception occurs prior to FS. Changes in HEP amplitude may reflect a neurophysiological biomarker of FS and may have diagnostic utility in differentiating FS and ES.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samia Elkommos
- School of Neuroscience, King's College London Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, London, UK
- Epilepsy Group, St George's Hospital Atkinson Morley Regional Neuroscience Centre, London, UK
| | - David Martin-Lopez
- Clinical Neurophysiology, St George's Hospital Atkinson Morley Regional Neuroscience Centre, London, UK
| | - Akihiro Koreki
- Psychiatry, National Hospital Organisation Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical Center, Chiba, Japan
- Neuroscience Research Centre, St George's University of London, London, UK
| | - Claire Jolliffe
- Clinical Neurophysiology, St George's Hospital Atkinson Morley Regional Neuroscience Centre, London, UK
| | - Rohan Kandasamy
- Clinical Neurophysiology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, University College London, London, UK
| | - Marco Mula
- Epilepsy Group, St George's Hospital Atkinson Morley Regional Neuroscience Centre, London, UK
- Institute of Medical and Biomedical Education, St George's University of London, London, UK
| | - Hugo D Critchley
- Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK
- Research and Development, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Worthing, UK
| | - Mark J Edwards
- Centre for Clinical Neuroscience, St George's University of London, London, UK
- Atkinson Morley Regional Neuroscience Centre, St George's Hospital, London, UK
| | - Sarah Garfinkel
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, London, UK
| | - Mark P Richardson
- School of Neuroscience, King's College London Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, London, UK
- Centre for Epilepsy, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Mahinda Yogarajah
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, University College London, London, UK
- Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
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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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Villena-Gonzalez M, Rojas-Thomas F, Morales-Torres R, López V. Autonomous sensory meridian response is associated with a larger heartbeat-evoked potential amplitude without differences in interoceptive awareness. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14277. [PMID: 36841904 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2022] [Revised: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/27/2023]
Abstract
Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) describes the experience of a pleasant body sensation accompanied by a feeling of well-being and relaxation in response to specific audiovisual stimuli, such as whispers and personal attention. Previous work suggests a relationship between this experience with the processing of affective and body states; however, no research has explored differences in interoception between people experiencing ASMR and those who do not. We hypothesized that the ASMR experience is based on interoception processing. To test this, we assessed group differences across different dimensions of interoception: Interoceptive sensibility (IS), measured using the multidimensional assessment of interoceptive awareness (MAIA); Interoceptive accuracy score (IAS), measured by calculating performance in a heartbeat counting task (HCT), and the electrophysiological index of interoception, the heartbeat evoked potential (HEP), which was calculated during the HCT and an ASMR tingle reporting task (ASMR-TRT). Our results showed that IS and IAS, dimensions requiring conscious awareness, showed no differences between groups. However, HEP amplitude was larger in the ASMR group in both tasks. We concluded that the ASMR experience is based on an unconscious interoceptive mechanism, reflected by HEP, where exteroceptive social-affective stimuli are integrated to represent a body state of positive affective feelings and relaxation, as has been described for affective touch. The relevance of this finding relies on that interoceptive function, body regulation, and emotional/affective experiences are fundamental for well-being, and the relationship between ASMR and interoception opens the way to future research exploring the causal relationship between them and their potential clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Felipe Rojas-Thomas
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | | | - Vladimir López
- Escuela de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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Huang Y, Xie M, Liu Y, Zhang X, Jiang L, Bao H, Qin P, Han J. Brain State Relays Self-Processing and Heartbeat-Evoked Cortical Responses. Brain Sci 2023; 13:brainsci13050832. [PMID: 37239303 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13050832] [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: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The self has been proposed to be grounded in interoceptive processing, with heartbeat-evoked cortical activity as a neurophysiological marker of this processing. However, inconsistent findings have been reported on the relationship between heartbeat-evoked cortical responses and self-processing (including exteroceptive- and mental-self-processing). In this review, we examine previous research on the association between self-processing and heartbeat-evoked cortical responses and highlight the divergent temporal-spatial characteristics and brain regions involved. We propose that the brain state relays the interaction between self-processing and heartbeat-evoked cortical responses and thus accounts for the inconsistency. The brain state, spontaneous brain activity which highly and continuously changes in a nonrandom way, serves as the foundation upon which the brain functions and was proposed as a point in an extremely high-dimensional space. To elucidate our assumption, we provide reviews on the interactions between dimensions of brain state with both self-processing and heartbeat-evoked cortical responses. These interactions suggest the relay of self-processing and heartbeat-evoked cortical responses by brain state. Finally, we discuss possible approaches to investigate whether and how the brain state impacts the self-heart interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Huang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Musi Xie
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Yunhe Liu
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Xinyu Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Liubei Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Han Bao
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Pengmin Qin
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- Pazhou Lab, Guangzhou 510330, China
| | - Junrong Han
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Science, Ministry of Education China, Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
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Critchley HD, Sherrill SP, Ewing DL, van Praag CG, Habash-Bailey H, Quadt L, Eccles JA, Meeten F, Jones AM, Garfinkel SN. Cardiac interoception in patients accessing secondary mental health services: A transdiagnostic study. Auton Neurosci 2023; 245:103072. [PMID: 36709619 DOI: 10.1016/j.autneu.2023.103072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Abnormalities in the regulation of physiological arousal and interoceptive processing are implicated in the expression and maintenance of specific psychiatric conditions and symptoms. We undertook a cross-sectional characterisation of patients accessing secondary mental health services, recording measures relating to cardiac physiology and interoception, to understand how physiological state and interoceptive ability relate transdiagnostically to affective symptoms. METHODS Participants were patients (n = 258) and a non-clinical comparison group (n = 67). Clinical diagnoses spanned affective disorders, complex personality presentations and psychoses. We first tested for differences between patient and non-clinical participants in terms of cardiac physiology and interoceptive ability, considering interoceptive tasks and a self-report measure. We then tested for correlations between cardiac and interoceptive measures and affective symptoms. Lastly, we explored group differences across recorded clinical diagnoses. RESULTS Patients exhibited lower performance accuracy and confidence in heartbeat discrimination and lower heartbeat tracking confidence relative to comparisons. In patients, greater anxiety and depression predicted greater self-reported interoceptive sensibility and a greater mismatch between performance accuracy and sensibility. This effect was not observed in comparison participants. Significant differences between patient groups were observed for heart rate variability (HRV) although post hoc differences were not significant after correction for multiple comparisons. Finally, accuracy in heartbeat tracking was significantly lower in schizophrenia compared to other diagnostic groups. CONCLUSIONS The multilevel characterisation presented here identified certain physiological and interoceptive differences associated with psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses. The clinical stratification and therapeutic targeting of interoceptive mechanisms is therefore of potential value in treating certain psychiatric conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo D Critchley
- Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Sussex Neuroscience, University of Sussex, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
| | - Samantha P Sherrill
- Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Sussex Neuroscience, University of Sussex, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Donna L Ewing
- Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; School of Humanities and Social Science, University of Brighton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Cassandra Gould van Praag
- Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Haniah Habash-Bailey
- Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; School of Psychology, University of Sussex, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Lisa Quadt
- Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Sussex Neuroscience, University of Sussex, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Jessica A Eccles
- Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Sussex Neuroscience, University of Sussex, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Fran Meeten
- Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; School of Psychology, University of Sussex, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Anna-Marie Jones
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Sarah N Garfinkel
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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50
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Engelen T, Buot A, Grèzes J, Tallon-Baudry C. Whose emotion is it? Perspective matters to understand brain-body interactions in emotions. Neuroimage 2023; 268:119867. [PMID: 36610678 PMCID: PMC9926012 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Feeling happy, or judging whether someone else is feeling happy are two distinct facets of emotions that nevertheless rely on similar physiological and neural activity. Differentiating between these two states, also called Self/Other distinction, is an essential aspect of empathy, but how exactly is it implemented? In non-emotional cognition, the transient neural response evoked at each heartbeat, or heartbeat evoked response (HER), indexes the self and signals Self/Other distinction. Here, using electroencephalography (n = 32), we probe whether HERs' role in Self/Other distinction extends also to emotion - a domain where brain-body interactions are particularly relevant. We asked participants to rate independently validated affective scenes, reporting either their own emotion (Self) or the emotion expressed by people in the scene (Other). During the visual cue indicating to adopt the Self or Other perspective, before the affective scene, HERs distinguished between the two conditions, in visual cortices as well as in the right frontal operculum. Physiological reactivity (facial electromyogram, skin conductance, heart rate) during affective scene co-varied as expected with valence and arousal ratings, but also with the Self- or Other- perspective adopted. Finally, HERs contributed to the subjective experience of valence in the Self condition, in addition to and independently from physiological reactivity. We thus show that HERs represent a trans-domain marker of Self/Other distinction, here specifically contributing to experienced valence. We propose that HERs represent a form of evidence related to the 'I' part of the judgement 'To which extent do I feel happy'. The 'I' related evidence would be combined with the affective evidence collected during affective scene presentation, accounting at least partly for the difference between feeling an emotion and identifying it in someone else.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tahnée Engelen
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory (LNC2), Inserm U960, Department of Cognitive Studies, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL University, 29 rue d'Ulm, Paris 75005, France.
| | - Anne Buot
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory (LNC2), Inserm U960, Department of Cognitive Studies, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL University, 29 rue d'Ulm, Paris 75005, France
| | - Julie Grèzes
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory (LNC2), Inserm U960, Department of Cognitive Studies, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL University, 29 rue d'Ulm, Paris 75005, France
| | - Catherine Tallon-Baudry
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory (LNC2), Inserm U960, Department of Cognitive Studies, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL University, 29 rue d'Ulm, Paris 75005, France.
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