Enhancing interoceptive sensibility through exteroceptive-interoceptive sensory substitution.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Interoception, the perception of internal bodily states, is crucial for mental health.
• Exteroception, the perception of the external environment, typically dominates sensory input.
• Bridging the gap between internal and external sensory perception remains a challenge in mental health technology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of sensory substitution for enhancing interoceptive sensibility.
• To explore the real-time translation of respiratory signals into visual and auditory stimuli.
• To evaluate the impact of this sensory substitution on the state of flow and its relationship with interoceptive sensibility.

Main Methods:

• Development of an immersive multisensory environment translating respiratory signals into visual and auditory stimuli.
• Real-time sensory substitution between interoceptive (respiration) and exteroceptive (vision, hearing) modalities.
• Evaluation using psychological assessments to measure interoceptive sensibility and state of flow.

Main Results:

• Significant increase in participants' interoceptive sensibility.
• Enhancement of the state of flow, indicating deeper engagement.
• A bidirectional correlation was found between interoceptive sensibility and the state of flow.

Conclusions:

• Sensory substitution offers a novel approach to enhance interoceptive awareness.
• The developed system shows promise as a transformative tool for mental health interventions.
• This research pioneers sensory substitution between interoceptive and exteroceptive senses for therapeutic applications.