Past and Future Explanations for Depersonalization and Derealization Disorder: A Role for Predictive Coding

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Depersonalization (DP) and derealization (DR) are dissociative experiences of self and environmental alienation.
• Chronic DP/DR can persist for years, with limited evidence for current treatment efficacy.
• Transient DP/DR episodes are common and can be studied in non-clinical populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a theoretical framework for DP and DR based on interoceptive predictive coding.
• To explore the induction of transient DP/DR experiences in healthy individuals using virtual reality (VR).
• To review objective neural measures, such as heartbeat evoked potentials (HEPs), for detecting DP/DR correlates.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical modeling using interoceptive predictive coding principles.
• Virtual reality paradigms to induce transient depersonalization and derealization.
• Review of heartbeat evoked potentials (HEPs) for neural correlate detection.

Main Results:

• A theoretical model linking interoceptive processing to DP/DR is proposed.
• VR can effectively induce transient DP/DR symptoms in non-clinical samples.
• HEPs show potential as objective biomarkers for DP/DR.

Conclusions:

• Interoceptive predictive coding offers a novel framework for understanding DP/DR.
• VR induction and HEP detection provide tools for studying DP/DR in healthy individuals.
• Research on transient DP/DR can illuminate the neural basis of self and reality construction.