Interindividual differences in interoception modulate behavior and brain responses in emotional inference

Brain activity differences between difficulty in falling asleep and early awakening symptoms in major depressive disorder: A resting-state fMRI study

Numerous studies have revealed that patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) suffer from insomnia symptoms. However, the dysfunction pattern in specific insomnia symptoms in patients with MDD remains unclear. The present study aimed to examine the regional brain neuroimaging activity features of difficulty falling asleep (DFA) and early awakening (EA) in patients with MDD. The resting-fMRI by applying the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) method was estimated in 50 MDD patients with DFA, 36 patients with EA, 46 patients without insomnia symptoms, and 60 matched healthy controls. The Pearson correlation analysis was used among the ALFF with significant difference brain regions, the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale factor scores, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores. Patients with DFA showed lower ALFF values in the left precentral gyrus than those with EA and higher ALFF values in the left insula than those without insomnia symptoms. Patients with EA showed higher ALFF values in the left precentral gyrus than those without insomnia symptoms. This study revealed distinct neural mechanisms underlying specific insomnia symptoms, identifying the left insula as a potential pathological region in DFA patients and the left precentral gyrus as a characteristic neuropathological region in EA patients.

Greenspace use and anxiety in young adults: The role of interoception

OBJECTIVE

Greenspace is linked to prevention and management of anxiety, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to evaluate the association between greenspace use and anxiety in Chinese young adults, focusing on the mediating role of interoception.

METHODS

This population-based study was conducted between September and October 2023 in four local universities in China. A total of 27,755 young adults were included. Greenspace use was assessed by self-report, anxiety by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) assessment, and interoception by the Body Perception Questionnaire (BPQ). Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) and mediation models were utilized to analyze associations.

RESULTS

The mean age of participants was 19.39 ± 1.64 years, with 10,944 (39.4%) being female. A total of 10,273 (37.01%) participants suffered from anxiety. GLMMs indicated that compared to their counterparts who did not visit green spaces at all in the past four weeks, those who visited once or twice, once a week, or several times a week had lower odds of anxiety. A lower level of interoception was associated with reduced odds of anxiety. Furthermore, interoception mediated much of the association between greenspace use and anxiety. These associations were robust in a series of sensitivity analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest the crucial role of green spaces on interoception and anxiety and point to the importance of promoting student well-being through interaction with greenspace and nature. Further research is needed to better understand how interoception mediates the connection of greenspace and other aspects of the built environment with anxiety.

Interoception mediates the association between social support and sociability in patients with major depressive disorder

BACKGROUND

Interoception dysfunction has an important impact on the onset and development of major depressive disorder (MDD). Social support serves as a protective factor against MDD, and sociability also plays a significant role in this condition. These interconnected constructs-social support and sociability-play pivotal roles in MDD. However, no research on the mechanisms underlying the associations between social support and sociability, particularly the potential role of interoception, have been reported.

AIM

To investigate the mediating effect of interoception between social support and social ability and to explore the independent role of social support in sociability.

METHODS

The participants included 292 patients with MDD and 257 healthy controls (HCs). The patient health questionnaire 9, the multidimensional assessment of interoception awareness, version 2 (MAIA-2), the social support rating scale (SSRS), and the Texas social behavior inventory (TSBI) were used to assess depression, interoception, social support, and sociability, respectively. A mediation analysis model for the eight dimensions of interoception (noticing, not distracting, not worrying, attention regulation, emotional awareness, self-regulation, body listening, and trust), social support, and sociability were established to evaluate the mediating effects.

RESULTS

A partial correlation analysis of eight dimensions of the MAIA-2, SSRS, and TSBI scores, with demographic data as control variables, revealed pairwise correlations between the SSRS score and both the MAIA-2 score and TSBI score. In the major depression (MD) group, the SSRS score had a positive direct effect on the TSBI score, while the scores for body listening, emotional awareness, self-regulation, and trust in the MAIA-2C had indirect effects on the TSBI score. In the HC group, the SSRS score had a positive direct effect on the TSBI score, and the scores for attention regulation, emotional awareness, self-regulation, and trust in the MAIA-2C had indirect effects on the TSBI score. The proportion of mediators in the MD group was lower than that in the HC group.

CONCLUSION

Interoceptive awareness is a mediating factor in the association between social support and sociability in both HCs and depressed patients. Training in interoceptive awareness might not only help improve emotional regulation in depressed patients but also enhance their social skills and support networks.

Effects of meditation on neural responses to pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis of fMRI studies

This systematic review investigates the impact of meditation on neural responses to pain, as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Up to March 2024, we conducted searches across four databases for human studies implementing fMRI to assess the efficacy of meditation for pain relief. Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Our systematic review indicates that activation of the insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex is positively associated with meditation for pain relief, while activity in regions like the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex is negatively correlated with pain relief. Meta-analyses consistently reveal the involvement of various brain regions, including the insula, putamen, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, precentral gyrus, postcentral gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, superior temporal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and caudate nucleus, in meditation-induced alleviation of pain. These findings suggest ccthat meditation acts on specific brain regions related to pain, mood, and cognition, providing insight into the potential mechanisms underlying the pain-alleviating effects of meditation on both pain sensations and emotional experiences.

Beyond Gender: Interoceptive Sensibility as a Key Predictor of Body Image Disturbances

Body image disturbance (BID) involves negative attitudes towards shape and weight and is associated with lower levels of interoceptive sensibility (IS) (the subjective perceptions of internal bodily states). This association is considered a risk factor for developing eating disorders (EDs) and is linked to altered sensorimotor representations of the body (i.e., body schema). BIDs manifest across genders and are currently understudied in men. This study investigated gender-related differences in BID and its relationship to the body schema and IS. Data were collected from 86 men and 86 women. BID was assessed using questionnaires measuring self-objectification, state, and trait body dissatisfaction. IS was measured via the MAIA-2. The body schema was indexed via an embodied mental rotation task. Results showed that women reported higher BID than men across all scales. Gender differences in sub-components of interoceptive sensibility were found. Overall, both gender and interoceptive sensibility predicted BID. However, interoceptive sensibility exhibited its own unique association with BID beyond the influence of gender. BID, IS and gender were not significant predictors of performance in the body schema task. Therefore, while gender predicts differences in BID and interoceptive sensibility, there was no evidence of gender-related differences in body schema.

Body image disturbance, interoceptive sensibility and the body schema across female adulthood: a pre-registered study

Introduction

Body image disturbance (BID) typically involves explicit negative attitudes toward one's shape and weight and is associated with altered interoceptive sensibility (the subjective perception of internal bodily states). This association is a known risk factor for the development and maintenance of eating disorders. However, while research has centred on younger women with eating disorders, diverse facets of BID appear in women without eating disorders across adulthood. Research shows that in the general population, young women (ages 18-25) with high BID exhibit disturbances in the body schema: an implicit sensorimotor representation of the body in space which includes mental simulation of a movement such as motor imagery. Given that body image is subject to age-related influences, it is important to investigate how age-related variation in BID can influence the body schema beyond young adulthood alone. Here, we examine the relationship between BID, interoceptive sensibility and the body schema across female adulthood.

Methods

Cross-sectional data was collected online from 1,214 women across four age groups: Young adults (18-24), Adults (25-39), Middle-aged adults (40-59), and Older aged adults (60-75). BID was indexed by questionnaires measuring body objectification, state, and trait body dissatisfaction. Interoceptive sensibility (IS) was measured using the MAIA-2 questionnaire. The body schema was evaluated through the Own Body Transformation task: a mental rotation task which assesses the capacity to make an embodied mental transformation.

Results

Analyses revealed that while body objectification and trait body dissatisfaction decreased from young to older adulthood, state body dissatisfaction showed a marked increase. A negative relationship between IS and BID across all age groups was also evidenced. Finally, age, BID and orientation of the presented body were significant predictors of the time taken to make an embodied transformation.

Discussion

These findings highlight the consistent relationship of BID and IS across age groups beyond young adulthood and demonstrate the varying importance of different aspects of BID as individuals age. We also evidence for the first time that disruptions in body image have the potential to impact implicit sensorimotor representations of the body even in women without eating disorders across female adulthood.

Preliminary Rasch analysis of the multidimensional assessment of interoceptive awareness in adults with stroke

PURPOSE

The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) measures interoceptive body awareness, which includes aspects such as attention regulation, self-regulation, and body listening. Our purpose was to perform a preliminary validation of the MAIA in adults with stroke using Rasch Measurement Theory.

METHODS

The original MAIA has 32 items that measure interoceptive sensibility, which is an aspect of body awareness. We performed a preliminary analysis with Rasch Measurement Theory to evaluate the unidimensionality and structural validity of the scale. We investigated overall fit to assess unidimensionality, person and item fit, person separation reliability, targeting, local item dependence, and principal components analysis of residuals.

RESULTS

Forty-one adults with chronic stroke (average 3.8 years post-stroke, 13 women, average age 57±13 years) participated in the study. Overall fit (χ 2 = 62.26, p = 0.26) and item fit were obtained after deleting 3 items and rescoring 26 items. One participant did not fit the model (2.44%). There were no floor (0.00%) or ceiling effects (0.00%). Local item dependence was found in 42 pairs. The person separation reliability was 0.91, and the person mean location was 0.06±1.12 logits.

CONCLUSIONS

The preliminary structural validity of the MAIA demonstrated good targeting and reliability, as well as unidimensionality, and good item and person fit in adults with chronic stroke. A study with a larger sample size is needed to validate our findings.

Online structured dance/movement therapy reduces bodily detachment in depersonalization-derealization disorder

BACKGROUND

Depersonalization-derealization disorder (DDD) is a dissociative disorder encompassing pronounced disconnections from the self and from external reality. As DDD is inherently tied to a detachment from the body, dance/movement therapy could provide an innovative treatment approach.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We developed two online dance tasks to reduce detachment either by training body awareness (BA task) or enhancing the salience of bodily signals through dance exercise (DE task). Individuals with DDD (n = 31) and healthy controls (n = 29) performed both tasks individually in a cross-over design. We assessed symptom severity (Cambridge Depersonalization Scale), interoceptive awareness (Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness - II), mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire), and body vigilance (Body Vigilance Scale) before, during and after the tasks.

RESULTS

At baseline, individuals with DDD exhibited elevated depersonalization-derealization symptoms alongside lower levels of interoceptive awareness and mindfulness compared to controls. Both tasks reduced symptoms in the DDD group, though dance exercise was perceived as easier. The DE task increased mindfulness in those with DDD more than the BA task, whereas controls showed the opposite pattern. In the DDD group, within-subject correlations showed that lower levels of symptoms were associated with task-specific elevations in interoceptive awareness and mindfulness.

CONCLUSION

Individual and structured dance/movement practice, performed at home without an instructor present, offers an effective tool to reduce symptoms in DDD and can be tailored to address specific cognitive components of a mindful engagement with the body.