Interoceptive influences on peripersonal space boundary.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Bodily self-awareness relies on integrating body signals within peripersonal space (PPS).
• Previous research focused on external factors influencing PPS, neglecting interoceptive contributions.
• Interoception, the sense of the internal body state, is crucial for self-awareness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of interoceptive accuracy on peripersonal space (PPS) boundary.
• To explore the moderating roles of private self-consciousness and social anxiety in the interoception-PPS relationship.
• To advance understanding of bodily self-awareness models by integrating interoceptive and exteroceptive processing.

Main Methods:

• Participants completed an audio-tactile interaction task to measure PPS boundary.
• Interoceptive accuracy was assessed using heartbeat counting and time estimation tasks.
• Self-consciousness and social anxiety traits were measured using validated questionnaires.

Main Results:

• Higher interoceptive accuracy was significantly correlated with a narrower PPS boundary.
• Private self-consciousness moderated the relationship between interoceptive accuracy and PPS, while social anxiety did not.
• These findings suggest a dynamic interplay between internal and external sensory processing in defining self-awareness.

Conclusions:

• Interoception dynamically shapes the peripersonal space, extending beyond external influences.
• A balance between interoceptive and exteroceptive processing is fundamental for bodily self-awareness.
• A comprehensive model of bodily self-awareness should incorporate interoception, exteroception, and individual self-consciousness traits.