Biasing predictive processing of interoceptive information affects implicit spirituality but not religiosity.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychology of Religion

Background:

• Religiosity and spirituality (R&S) are theorized within predictive processing to involve reliance on prior knowledge and reduced prediction error monitoring.
• R&S may differentially interact with processing external (exteroceptive) and internal (interoceptive) bodily signals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To manipulate predictive processing components (priors and prediction error monitoring) in interoception.
• To assess resultant changes in implicit religiosity and spirituality.
• To investigate the relationship between interoception, spirituality, and autistic traits.

Main Methods:

• Experiment 1: Induced priors about heartbeat frequency using sham transcranial magnetic stimulation and verbal suggestions during a heartbeat discrimination task (HDT).
• Experiment 2: Modulated prediction error monitoring by manipulating error feedback reliability in an HDT.
• Measured implicit R&S and autistic personality traits.

Main Results:

• Induced priors shifted subjective perception of heartbeat frequency, particularly for decreased frequency.
• Reduced sensitivity (increased just noticeable difference) was observed with unreliable error feedback.
• Implicit spirituality, but not religiosity, increased after successful prior induction, correlated with autistic traits.

Conclusions:

• Successful induction of interoceptive priors, not prediction error manipulation, increased implicit spirituality.
• Findings support a predictive coding account of R&S.
• Interoception shows a stronger association with spirituality than religiosity.