Interoceptive differences in elite sprint and long-distance runners: A multidimensional investigation

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Neuroscience
• Psychology

Background:

• Interoception, sensing internal bodily signals, is theorized to aid self-regulation and elite athletic performance.
• Research on interoception in world-class athletes remains limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate self-reported and behavioral interoceptive abilities in elite sprinters and long-distance runners compared to non-athletes.
• To explore how auditory distraction affects interoceptive accuracy in athletes.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: Administered the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness Questionnaire to assess self-reported interoception.
• Study 2: Employed heartbeat counting and detection tasks under silent and noisy conditions to measure behavioral interoception (cardioception).

Main Results:

• Elite athletes reported differences in attention regulation, emotional awareness, and self-regulation compared to non-athletes.
• Sprinters and distance runners maintained heartbeat detection accuracy under distraction, unlike non-athletes.
• Elite athletes showed higher confidence in their interoceptive perception but lower accuracy in heartbeat counting, indicating greater interoceptive prediction error.

Conclusions:

• Athletic populations possess altered interoceptive abilities compared to non-athletes.
• Interoceptive accuracy and its resilience to distraction appear to be key characteristics of elite runners.
• While elite athletes are more confident in their bodily signals, they may exhibit less precise interoceptive processing in certain tasks.