Multidimensional Assessment of Interoception in Blind and Deaf Individuals

Previous studies have documented compensatory interactions across different sensory modalities, including cross-modal compensation between external senses such as visual-auditory and visual-tactile systems. However, whether such compensatory effects extend to the interaction between exteroception and interoception in hearing loss remains unclear, as prior evidence has been largely limited to visual deprivation. Interoception is the ability to perceive, understand, and respond to internal bodily signals. To investigate the potential for cross-modal compensation between interoception and exteroception, we recruited 35 visually impaired, 35 hearing-impaired, and 35 control participants, all college students, assessing their interoception across multiple dimensions to examine the impact of visual or auditory sensory loss via between-group comparisons. We utilized four instruments to measure key dimensions of interoception: the heartbeat counting task for behavioral assessment of cardiac interoceptive accuracy; the Interoceptive Accuracy Scale for self-reported accuracy; the Interoceptive Attention Scale for attention; and the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) for awareness. Results showed that individuals with visual or hearing impairments demonstrated better performance on behaviorally assessed cardiac interoceptive accuracy relative to controls, whereas their self-reported interoceptive accuracy and attention were significantly lower. No significant group differences emerged in interoceptive awareness. This study extends the theoretical framework of cross-modal compensation by providing systematic evidence for its operation between interoceptive and exteroceptive systems, thereby establishing a novel link between sensory impairment and interoceptive processing.