Aberrant Cardiac Interoception in Psychosis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Psychology

Background:

• Cardiac interoception (heartbeat perception) is crucial for emotional experiences.
• Interoceptive dysfunction is hypothesized to underlie psychosis symptoms.
• This study investigates specific cardiac interoception deficits in psychotic disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the hypothesis that individuals with psychotic disorders have impaired cardiac interoception.
• To determine if this impairment is specific to interoception or a broader perceptual deficit.

Main Methods:

• 43 adults with psychosis history and 41 controls performed a heart rate discrimination task.
• Participants judged auditory tone rates against their own heart rate.
• An exteroceptive control task assessed auditory discrimination independently of heart rate.

Main Results:

• Participants with psychosis history exhibited significantly larger errors in heart rate estimation.
• This cardiac interoception deficit was specific and not observed in the exteroceptive control task.
• Findings indicate a specific impairment in perceiving one's own heart rate in psychotic disorders.

Conclusions:

• Psychotic disorders are linked to inaccurate heart rate perception (interoceptive misestimation).
• This interoceptive abnormality may contribute to psychosis symptoms like delusions and affective disturbances.
• Cardiac interoception could be a potential therapeutic target for psychotic disorders.