The relationship between brain neural correlates, self-objectification, and interoceptive sensibility.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Interoceptive sensibility, the awareness of internal bodily states, is crucial for health.
• Self-objectification, adopting an external perspective of one's body, is known to reduce interoceptive sensibility.
• The neural underpinnings of interoceptive sensibility and its relationship with self-objectification remain underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural basis of interoceptive sensibility using resting-state brain activity and connectivity.
• To elucidate the mediating role of neural mechanisms in the relationship between self-objectification and interoceptive sensibility.

Main Methods:

• Assessed resting-state brain activity (fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, fALFF) and functional connectivity (RSFC) in 442 college students.
• Employed whole-brain correlation and mediation analyses to examine brain-behavior relationships.

Main Results:

• Higher interoceptive sensibility correlated with altered fALFF in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), cerebellum, paracentral lobule, and temporal gyri.
• Interoceptive sensibility was negatively associated with RSFC between the right IFG and the secondary somatosensory cortex (S2) and ventral premotor cortex (VPC).
• fALFF of the right IFG and RSFC of IFG-S2 and IFG-VPC mediated the link between self-objectification and interoceptive sensibility.

Conclusions:

• The right IFG appears to be a key neural marker for interoceptive sensibility.
• Neural pathways involving the IFG, S2, and VPC mediate the impact of self-objectification on interoceptive awareness.
• Findings provide insights into the neural correlates underlying self-objectification and interoceptive sensibility.