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Bodily Maps of Emotions in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Case-Control Study
Kato Dens1, Maaike Van Den Houte2,3, Jan Tack4
1Department of Pediatrics, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Neurogastroenterology and Motility
|June 2, 2026
Summary
Individuals with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) experience emotions differently in their bodies, showing persistent abdominal sensations and blunted responses to positive emotions compared to healthy individuals.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Emotions manifest as distinct bodily sensations across cultures.
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) involves altered interoceptive and affective processing.
- This suggests IBS may impact how emotions are experienced somatically.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate differences in emotion-related bodily sensation maps between individuals with IBS and healthy controls (HC).
- To determine if IBS alters the somatization of emotional experiences.
Main Methods:
- Forty-three IBS patients (Rome IV criteria) and 54 HC completed emotion-evoked sensation mapping using the EmBODY tool.
- Participants marked sensation locations for 13 emotions and a neutral state on body silhouettes.
- Region-based and pixel-wise analyses compared sensation patterns between groups.
Main Results:
- IBS participants exhibited consistently heightened abdominal sensations across all emotional states.
- Emotional states modulated abdominal sensations in HC, but not in IBS.
- Positive emotions elicited less abdominal activation in IBS compared to HC, and reduced head activation was observed in IBS for some positive emotions.
Conclusions:
- Individuals with IBS show altered emotional embodiment, marked by persistent abdominal sensations.
- Limited emotional differentiation and blunted modulation of positive emotions were observed in IBS.
- Further research with physiological measures is recommended to understand IBS emotion-body interactions.
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