Interventions and Manipulations of Interoception

Interoceptive pathways may be manipulated at various levels to develop interventions to improve symptoms in a range of disorders. Primarily through the lens of the respiratory system, we outline various pathways that can be manipulated at neural, behavioral, and psychological levels to change the representation of and attention to interoceptive signals, which can alter interconnected physiological systems and improve functioning and adaptive behavior. Interventions can alter interoception via neuromodulation of the vagus nerve, slow breathing to change respiratory rate and depth, or awareness processes such as mindfulness-based interventions. Aspects of this framework may be applied to other physiological systems and future research may integrate interventions across multiple levels of manipulation or bodily systems.