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Neural systems connecting interoceptive awareness and feelings
Olga Pollatos1, Klaus Gramann, Rainer Schandry
1Department of Psychology, LMU University, Munich, Germany. pollatos@psy.uni-muenchen.de
Human Brain Mapping
|May 27, 2006
Summary
People with better awareness of their bodily signals experience emotions more intensely. This heightened interoceptive awareness is linked to greater brain activity in emotion-processing regions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Bodily response representations are crucial for subjective emotional experiences in many emotion theories.
- Understanding the link between interoception and emotion processing is vital for comprehending subjective feelings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test if interoceptive awareness positively correlates with the intensity of experienced emotions.
- To investigate the relationship between interoceptive awareness and brain activity in emotion-related structures.
- To identify specific brain regions involved in both interoceptive awareness and emotion processing.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a heartbeat perception task to categorize participants into high or poor interoceptive awareness groups.
- Measured high-density electroencephalography (EEG) during emotional picture presentation.
- Employed spatiotemporal current density reconstruction for source localization of brain activity.
Main Results:
- A positive correlation was found between interoceptive awareness and the intensity of experienced emotions.
- Enhanced P300 amplitudes to emotional stimuli were observed in individuals with high interoceptive awareness.
- Source reconstruction indicated increased activation in first-order (insula, somatosensory cortices) and second-order (anterior cingulate, prefrontal cortices) brain structures for those with high interoceptive awareness.
Conclusions:
- Perception of bodily states is a critical determinant for the processing and subjective experience of emotions.
- Interoceptive awareness modulates emotional intensity and associated neural processing.
- The findings highlight the integral role of the body in emotional experience.
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