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.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/erv.3049 | DOI Listing |
PNAS Nexus
December 2024
Institut du Cerveau-Paris Brain Institute-ICM, Inserm, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, APHP,Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France.
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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychol Rev
December 2024
Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University.
When it comes to body movements in external space, people are experts in learning fine-grained voluntary control, for example, when manipulating tiny objects. Voluntarily controlling actions in the internal body (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeart Lung
December 2024
Center for Home Care Policy & Research at VNS Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA; School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, 418 Curie Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Electronic address:
Background: To perform self-care, individuals with a chronic illness must be able to perceive bodily changes (ie., interoception) so they can respond to symptoms when they arise. Interoception is regulated by the insular cortex of the brain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
December 2024
Department of Psychology, General and Experimental Psychology Unit, LMU Munich, Leopoldstr. 13, D-80802, Munich, Germany.
Psychophysiology
November 2024
School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!