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Interoceptive awareness moderates neural activity during decision-making
Natalie S Werner1, Nicola Schweitzer, Thomas Meindl
1Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 13, 80802 München, Germany.
Biological Psychology
|October 1, 2013
Summary
This study reveals that heightened interoceptive awareness, or sensing body signals, correlates with brain activity during decision-making. Specifically, the right anterior insula processes these somatic markers more effectively with greater awareness.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- Decision-making is influenced by bodily signals.
- Interoceptive awareness, the perception of internal body states, plays a role in cognitive processes.
- Previous research suggests a link between somatic feedback and decision-making.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between interoceptive awareness and neural activity preceding decision-making.
- To determine if the accuracy of interoceptive awareness modulates neural responses during a decision-making task.
Main Methods:
- Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed.
- Participants' interoceptive awareness was measured using a heartbeat perception task.
- The Iowa Gambling Task was used to assess decision-making performance.
Main Results:
- A positive correlation was found between interoceptive awareness and neural activity in the right anterior insula and left postcentral gyrus during decision-making.
- Right anterior insula activity was linked to decision-making performance only in individuals with accurate interoceptive awareness.
- Increased interoceptive awareness was associated with stronger processing of somatic markers in the right anterior insula.
Conclusions:
- Somatic feedback, particularly from the insula, is crucial for effective decision-making.
- The right anterior insula integrates somatic information, acting as a neural substrate for somatic markers.
- Accurate interoceptive awareness enhances the utilization of somatic signals in decision-making processes.
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