Dimensions of interoception in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Psychology

Background:

• Interoceptive sensibility (IS) is the awareness of internal bodily sensations.
• IS is often assessed via self-report questionnaires.
• Dysregulation in IS may be implicated in psychiatric disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate interoceptive sensibility in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• To compare IS profiles between OCD patients and healthy controls.
• To explore the relationship between IS dimensions and OCD symptomology.

Main Methods:

• Eighty-one patients with OCD and 76 healthy controls were assessed.
• The Multidimensional Scale of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) was employed.
• MAIA subscales measure adaptive and maladaptive responses to bodily sensations.

Main Results:

• OCD patients demonstrated hyperawareness of body sensations compared to controls.
• Patients exhibited a more maladaptive IS profile: increased distraction and worry about sensations, and reduced sense of bodily safety.
• Findings remained consistent regardless of medication status or comorbidities.

Conclusions:

• OCD is associated with abnormal interoceptive sensibility, characterized by hyperawareness and maladaptive responses.
• These IS abnormalities are independent of medication and comorbidities and correlate with specific OCD symptom dimensions.
• Future research should explore neural correlates and treatment effects on IS in OCD.