Neural processes linking joint hypermobility and anxiety: key roles for the amygdala and insular cortex.

Background: Anxiety symptoms are elevated among people with joint hypermobility. The underlying neural mechanisms are attributed theoretically to effects of variant connective tissue on the precision of interoceptive representations contributing to emotions.

Aim: To investigate the neural correlates of anxiety and hypermobility using functional neuroimaging.

Differences in ongoing thought between autistic and non-autistic adults.

Autistic people may be distinguishable from non-autistic individuals in the content and modality of their thoughts. Such differences potentially underlie both psychological vulnerability and strengths, motivating the need to better understand autistic thought patterns. In non-clinical undergraduates, a recent study found that autistic traits were associated with thinking more in words than images.

Interoceptive Mechanisms and Emotional Processing.

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.