Interoception as a function of hypnotizability during rest and a heartbeat counting task.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Psychophysiology

Background:

• Interoceptive accuracy (IA) varies between high and low hypnotizable individuals, potentially linked to insula morpho-functional differences.
• Understanding interoceptive processing across the full spectrum of hypnotizability is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate interoceptive processing, specifically heartbeat-evoked cortical potentials (HEP) and IA, in high, medium, and low hypnotizable individuals.
• To explore differences in neural responses during rest, sensory conditions, and heartbeat counting tasks.

Main Methods:

• 14 high, 14 medium, and 18 low hypnotizable individuals (Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale) underwent ECG and EEG recordings.
• Participants completed resting-state, eyes open/closed, and heartbeat counting tasks.
• Heartbeat-evoked cortical potentials (HEP) and interoceptive accuracy (IA) index were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Significant hypnotizability-related differences in HEP amplitudes were found in the right central region (lows: positive; highs/mediums: negative).
• These differences were primarily observed in early HEP components during tasks.
• No significant group differences in IA via heartbeat counting task (HCT) were detected, though mediums and highs showed distinct HEP modulation patterns.

Conclusions:

• High and medium hypnotizable individuals show similar HEP patterns, distinct from low hypnotizable individuals, despite comparable IA.
• Neural processing of interoception appears more similar between high/medium hypnotizability groups than medium/low groups.
• A negative correlation exists between hypnotizability scores and HEP amplitudes in specific brain regions.