Rumble Recognition: a gastrointestinal sound discrimination task to measure gastrointestinal interoception

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Gastroenterology
• Psychology

Background:

• Gastrointestinal interoception, the gut's ability to sense and interpret internal signals, is crucial for physical and mental health.
• While gut-brain signaling is studied, the perceptual aspects of gut sensations and their control are less understood.
• This gap limits research into how gut feelings impact well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce Rumble Recognition, a new task designed to measure gastrointestinal interoceptive accuracy, self-beliefs, and metacognitive insight.
• To evaluate the task's feasibility, tolerability, and utility in ecologically valid conditions.
• To provide an accessible, automated tool for advancing research in gastrointestinal interoception.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel gastrointestinal sound discrimination task (Rumble Recognition) using a two-interval forced choice design.
• Assessed interoceptive performance accuracy and self-reported confidence to compute metacognitive insight.
• Tested the task in healthy adults (n=45) under three conditions: fasting, after sparkling water, and after a meal replacement shake.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated the feasibility and tolerability of the Rumble Recognition task in a healthy sample.
• Confirmed the task's ability to yield relevant parameters for naturalistic experiences, including hunger.
• The task is fully automated, affordable, and available as open-source code.

Conclusions:

• The Rumble Recognition task is a viable tool for measuring gastrointestinal interoceptive accuracy and related cognitive aspects.
• This novel task can significantly facilitate research in the clinically relevant and expanding field of gut-brain interactions.
• The open-source nature and affordability of the task promote wider accessibility for scientific investigation.