Modulation and experience of external stimuli: toward a science of experience and interoception

The concept of interoception can be found in various writing over the past 100 or more years dating back to Sherrington, James and Lange. Professor György Adám that made American scientists increasingly aware of the importance of interoception with his 1967 book Interoception and Behavior. In this article we want to discuss two areas of research from out laboratory that have been influenced from this perspective. First, we will focus on electrocortical correlates of error detection during visuo-motor task and examine the manner in which an individual becomes aware of making an error as well as the way in which this awareness directs behavior on an ongoing basis. Second, we will examine hypnotic modulation of the pain experience and describe the manner in which electrocortical processes reflect the modulation and experience of pain. In this discussion, we suggest the importance of the anterior cingulate in not only modulating these processes in particular but also in its more general role as an interface between the limbic system and the neocortex and the integration of cognitive with emotional stimuli.