A. D. (Bud) Craig
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691156767
- eISBN:
- 9781400852727
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691156767.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Neurobiology
This book brings together startling evidence from neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry to present revolutionary new insights into how our brains enable us to experience the range of sensations ...
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This book brings together startling evidence from neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry to present revolutionary new insights into how our brains enable us to experience the range of sensations and mental states known as feelings. Drawing on own cutting-edge research, the author has identified an area deep inside the mammalian brain—the insular cortex—as the place where interoception, or the processing of bodily stimuli, generates feelings. The book shows how this crucial pathway for interoceptive awareness gives rise in humans to the feeling of being alive, vivid perceptual feelings, and a subjective image of the sentient self across time. The book explains how feelings represent activity patterns in our brains that signify emotions, intentions, and thoughts, and how integration of these patterns is driven by the unique energy needs of the hominid brain. It describes the essential role of feelings and the insular cortex in such diverse realms as music, fluid intelligence, and bivalent emotions, and relates these ideas to the philosophy of William James and even to feelings in dogs. The book is also a compelling insider's account of scientific discovery, one that takes readers behind the scenes as the astonishing answer to this neurological puzzle is pursued and pieced together from seemingly unrelated fields of scientific inquiry. This book will fundamentally alter the way that neuroscientists and psychologists categorize sensations and understand the origins and significance of human feelings.Less
This book brings together startling evidence from neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry to present revolutionary new insights into how our brains enable us to experience the range of sensations and mental states known as feelings. Drawing on own cutting-edge research, the author has identified an area deep inside the mammalian brain—the insular cortex—as the place where interoception, or the processing of bodily stimuli, generates feelings. The book shows how this crucial pathway for interoceptive awareness gives rise in humans to the feeling of being alive, vivid perceptual feelings, and a subjective image of the sentient self across time. The book explains how feelings represent activity patterns in our brains that signify emotions, intentions, and thoughts, and how integration of these patterns is driven by the unique energy needs of the hominid brain. It describes the essential role of feelings and the insular cortex in such diverse realms as music, fluid intelligence, and bivalent emotions, and relates these ideas to the philosophy of William James and even to feelings in dogs. The book is also a compelling insider's account of scientific discovery, one that takes readers behind the scenes as the astonishing answer to this neurological puzzle is pursued and pieced together from seemingly unrelated fields of scientific inquiry. This book will fundamentally alter the way that neuroscientists and psychologists categorize sensations and understand the origins and significance of human feelings.
A. D. (Bud) Craig
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691156767
- eISBN:
- 9781400852727
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691156767.003.0005
- Subject:
- Biology, Neurobiology
This chapter looks at the experiments that demonstrated in monkeys and humans the unforeseen lamina I pathway to the thalamus and its subsequent projection to the interoceptive cortex. The ascending ...
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This chapter looks at the experiments that demonstrated in monkeys and humans the unforeseen lamina I pathway to the thalamus and its subsequent projection to the interoceptive cortex. The ascending interoceptive thalamocortical pathway is phylogenetically unique to primates; it most likely arose in conjunction with the enormous encephalization associated with the emergence of the primate lineage. The existence of this pathway was a surprise to most investigators in the field of somatosensory neurobiology. As mentioned in chapter 1, a sensory representation of general feelings from the body had been envisioned by the German natural philosophers of the nineteenth century. However, that concept was superseded by the heuristic codification of nociception and the assignment of pain and temperature sensations to the somatosensory cortex. The chapter's findings rectify that misconception and substantiate the fundamental neurobiological distinction between interoception and exteroception at the thalamocortical level in the monkey and human.Less
This chapter looks at the experiments that demonstrated in monkeys and humans the unforeseen lamina I pathway to the thalamus and its subsequent projection to the interoceptive cortex. The ascending interoceptive thalamocortical pathway is phylogenetically unique to primates; it most likely arose in conjunction with the enormous encephalization associated with the emergence of the primate lineage. The existence of this pathway was a surprise to most investigators in the field of somatosensory neurobiology. As mentioned in chapter 1, a sensory representation of general feelings from the body had been envisioned by the German natural philosophers of the nineteenth century. However, that concept was superseded by the heuristic codification of nociception and the assignment of pain and temperature sensations to the somatosensory cortex. The chapter's findings rectify that misconception and substantiate the fundamental neurobiological distinction between interoception and exteroception at the thalamocortical level in the monkey and human.
Martin P. Paulus
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199600434
- eISBN:
- 9780191725623
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199600434.003.0018
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This chapter reviews three constructs that have important contributions to risky decision making. First, it considers interoception and its neural substrates, discusses the characteristics of ...
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This chapter reviews three constructs that have important contributions to risky decision making. First, it considers interoception and its neural substrates, discusses the characteristics of interoceptive processing as they relate to decision making, and outlines the relationship between interoception and reward. Second, the notion of alliesthesia is introduced and the connection to interoception is provided, together with the presumed underlying neural substrates. Third, a heuristic homeostatic decision-making model is proposed, which is based on existing mathematical formulations of prospect theory augmented by a variable that indicates the internal state of the individual. Based on this extension, it can be shown that individuals undergo preference reversals in decision-making situations. These three approaches can be used to better quantify and understand decision-making dysfunctions in individuals with psychiatric disorders.Less
This chapter reviews three constructs that have important contributions to risky decision making. First, it considers interoception and its neural substrates, discusses the characteristics of interoceptive processing as they relate to decision making, and outlines the relationship between interoception and reward. Second, the notion of alliesthesia is introduced and the connection to interoception is provided, together with the presumed underlying neural substrates. Third, a heuristic homeostatic decision-making model is proposed, which is based on existing mathematical formulations of prospect theory augmented by a variable that indicates the internal state of the individual. Based on this extension, it can be shown that individuals undergo preference reversals in decision-making situations. These three approaches can be used to better quantify and understand decision-making dysfunctions in individuals with psychiatric disorders.
Christopher Eccleston
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198727903
- eISBN:
- 9780191814099
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198727903.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Health Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This book examines the ten neglected bodily senses that are rarely discussed. We grow up thinking there are five senses, but we forget about the ten neglected senses of the body that structure and ...
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This book examines the ten neglected bodily senses that are rarely discussed. We grow up thinking there are five senses, but we forget about the ten neglected senses of the body that structure and limit our experience. Physical senses are explored in ten chapters: balance, movement, pressure (acting in gravity), breathing, fatigue, pain, itch, temperature, appetite, and expulsion (the senses of physical matter leaving the body). For each sense, two people are interviewed who live with extreme experiences of the sense; their stories bring to life how far physical sensations matter to us and how much they define what is possible in our life. How physical sensation shapes behavior and how behavior is shaped by the experience of sensation are explored. A final chapter presents a theory of what is common across the physical senses. Our experience is always embodied, defined by our physical senses, and that embodied life is undertaken thoroughly embedded in a social, linguistic, and physical world.Less
This book examines the ten neglected bodily senses that are rarely discussed. We grow up thinking there are five senses, but we forget about the ten neglected senses of the body that structure and limit our experience. Physical senses are explored in ten chapters: balance, movement, pressure (acting in gravity), breathing, fatigue, pain, itch, temperature, appetite, and expulsion (the senses of physical matter leaving the body). For each sense, two people are interviewed who live with extreme experiences of the sense; their stories bring to life how far physical sensations matter to us and how much they define what is possible in our life. How physical sensation shapes behavior and how behavior is shaped by the experience of sensation are explored. A final chapter presents a theory of what is common across the physical senses. Our experience is always embodied, defined by our physical senses, and that embodied life is undertaken thoroughly embedded in a social, linguistic, and physical world.
Dana H. Ballard
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262028615
- eISBN:
- 9780262323819
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262028615.003.0010
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Research and Theory
Early thinking on the role of emotions in cognition sometimes characterized them as a liability, but the modern understanding the computational role of emotions places them at the centre of fast ...
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Early thinking on the role of emotions in cognition sometimes characterized them as a liability, but the modern understanding the computational role of emotions places them at the centre of fast decision-making by using the body’s self-state inventory as a source of value judgement. Additionally it is necessary to appreciate that the emotional system has a very complex structure owing to its lengthy phylogenetic development history. Consequently the full emotional picture requires appreciating its different levels in a six-level abstraction hierarchy. Lower levels regulate basic body needs and drives. Higher levels reconcile the evaluation of the external world with internal body-centric ratings. The highest levels manage signalling and feelings.Less
Early thinking on the role of emotions in cognition sometimes characterized them as a liability, but the modern understanding the computational role of emotions places them at the centre of fast decision-making by using the body’s self-state inventory as a source of value judgement. Additionally it is necessary to appreciate that the emotional system has a very complex structure owing to its lengthy phylogenetic development history. Consequently the full emotional picture requires appreciating its different levels in a six-level abstraction hierarchy. Lower levels regulate basic body needs and drives. Higher levels reconcile the evaluation of the external world with internal body-centric ratings. The highest levels manage signalling and feelings.
Anna Ciaunica and Aikaterini Fotopoulou
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780262035552
- eISBN:
- 9780262337120
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035552.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
Is minimal selfhood a build-in feature of our experiential life (Gallagher 2005; Zahavi 2005, 2014; Legrand 2006) or a later socio-culturally determined acquisition, emerging in the process of social ...
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Is minimal selfhood a build-in feature of our experiential life (Gallagher 2005; Zahavi 2005, 2014; Legrand 2006) or a later socio-culturally determined acquisition, emerging in the process of social exchanges and mutual interactions (Fonagy et al. 2004; Prinz 2012; Schmid 2014)? This chapter, building mainly on empirical research on affective touch and interoception, argues in favor of a reconceptualization of minimal selfhood that surpasses such debates, and their tacitly “detached,” visuo-spatial models of selfhood and otherness. Instead, the relational origins of the self are traced on fundamental principles and regularities of the human embodied condition, such as the amodal properties that govern the organization of sensorimotor signals into distinct perceptual experiences. Interactive experiences with effects on “within” and “on” the physical boundaries of the body (e.g., skin-to-skin touch) are necessary for such organization in early infancy when the motor system is not as yet developed. Therefore, an experiencing subject is not primarily understood as facing another subject “there.” Instead, the minimal self is by necessity co-constituted by other bodies in physical contact and proximal interaction.Less
Is minimal selfhood a build-in feature of our experiential life (Gallagher 2005; Zahavi 2005, 2014; Legrand 2006) or a later socio-culturally determined acquisition, emerging in the process of social exchanges and mutual interactions (Fonagy et al. 2004; Prinz 2012; Schmid 2014)? This chapter, building mainly on empirical research on affective touch and interoception, argues in favor of a reconceptualization of minimal selfhood that surpasses such debates, and their tacitly “detached,” visuo-spatial models of selfhood and otherness. Instead, the relational origins of the self are traced on fundamental principles and regularities of the human embodied condition, such as the amodal properties that govern the organization of sensorimotor signals into distinct perceptual experiences. Interactive experiences with effects on “within” and “on” the physical boundaries of the body (e.g., skin-to-skin touch) are necessary for such organization in early infancy when the motor system is not as yet developed. Therefore, an experiencing subject is not primarily understood as facing another subject “there.” Instead, the minimal self is by necessity co-constituted by other bodies in physical contact and proximal interaction.
Georg Northoff
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199826988
- eISBN:
- 9780199399024
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199826988.003.0008
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Behavioral Neuroscience
The chapter proposes that the three different statistics, social, vegetative, and natural, are matched and compared with each other; this results in what the theory of predictive coding describes as ...
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The chapter proposes that the three different statistics, social, vegetative, and natural, are matched and compared with each other; this results in what the theory of predictive coding describes as actual input (and ultimately as prediction error); that is, the neural activity change in the reward system during value assignment. Such prediction error as the matching and comparison between different stimuli and their respective statistics is possible, however, only on the basis of coding the differences between the different stimuli—that is, difference-based coding—rather than coding the stimuli themselves, or stimulus-based coding. Hence, the example of reward again demonstrates predictive coding to presuppose difference-based coding. Furthermore, the discussion of reward shows that the concept of the prediction error and more specifically the concept of the actual input needs to be specified (and elaborated) by the matching and comparison between different statistics: natural, social, and vegetative.Less
The chapter proposes that the three different statistics, social, vegetative, and natural, are matched and compared with each other; this results in what the theory of predictive coding describes as actual input (and ultimately as prediction error); that is, the neural activity change in the reward system during value assignment. Such prediction error as the matching and comparison between different stimuli and their respective statistics is possible, however, only on the basis of coding the differences between the different stimuli—that is, difference-based coding—rather than coding the stimuli themselves, or stimulus-based coding. Hence, the example of reward again demonstrates predictive coding to presuppose difference-based coding. Furthermore, the discussion of reward shows that the concept of the prediction error and more specifically the concept of the actual input needs to be specified (and elaborated) by the matching and comparison between different statistics: natural, social, and vegetative.
Georg Northoff
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199826995
- eISBN:
- 9780199979776
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199826995.003.0020
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Behavioral Neuroscience
How are the resting state activity’s prephenomenal structures transformed into a full-blown phenomenal state during stimulus-induced activity? The central stimuli input are interoceptive stimuli from ...
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How are the resting state activity’s prephenomenal structures transformed into a full-blown phenomenal state during stimulus-induced activity? The central stimuli input are interoceptive stimuli from the body, which continuously feed into the brain’s resting-state activity. Phenomenally, such continuous interoceptive input is manifested in our consciousness of the body, which is more or less almost always present in the background or the foreground of any consciousness.Less
How are the resting state activity’s prephenomenal structures transformed into a full-blown phenomenal state during stimulus-induced activity? The central stimuli input are interoceptive stimuli from the body, which continuously feed into the brain’s resting-state activity. Phenomenally, such continuous interoceptive input is manifested in our consciousness of the body, which is more or less almost always present in the background or the foreground of any consciousness.
Beatrice de Gelder
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780195374346
- eISBN:
- 9780190265441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195374346.003.0009
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology
From physical bodies this chapter proceeds to discuss virtual bodies, avatars, and robots. Depending on one’s viewpoint, the new social technologies are either opportunities for applying existing ...
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From physical bodies this chapter proceeds to discuss virtual bodies, avatars, and robots. Depending on one’s viewpoint, the new social technologies are either opportunities for applying existing insights or, alternatively, are profoundly changing our familiar concepts of mind, body, self, emotion, and consciousness. The simple picture of emotional consciousness attributing the feelings we experience to their causes, begs the questions. A reliable link between feelings and their objects or causes cannot be taken for granted and is no explanation. Are there feelings related to nonconscious perception of bodily expressions? Body expression perception in the case of autism or schizophrenia provides perspective. How do we feel about nonhuman bodies like avatars or robots? Companion animals have health benefits. Realism is important in making avatars and robots useful, and the quality of virtual character perception increases when multiple sensory systems converge. Will we be able to invest an avatar with our self?Less
From physical bodies this chapter proceeds to discuss virtual bodies, avatars, and robots. Depending on one’s viewpoint, the new social technologies are either opportunities for applying existing insights or, alternatively, are profoundly changing our familiar concepts of mind, body, self, emotion, and consciousness. The simple picture of emotional consciousness attributing the feelings we experience to their causes, begs the questions. A reliable link between feelings and their objects or causes cannot be taken for granted and is no explanation. Are there feelings related to nonconscious perception of bodily expressions? Body expression perception in the case of autism or schizophrenia provides perspective. How do we feel about nonhuman bodies like avatars or robots? Companion animals have health benefits. Realism is important in making avatars and robots useful, and the quality of virtual character perception increases when multiple sensory systems converge. Will we be able to invest an avatar with our self?
Bruno and
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198725022
- eISBN:
- 9780191860041
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198725022.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
The perception of our own body is a defining characteristic of our sense of self and a prerequisite for interacting with the environment and guiding movements. In the traditional view, the body is ...
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The perception of our own body is a defining characteristic of our sense of self and a prerequisite for interacting with the environment and guiding movements. In the traditional view, the body is perceived mostly through somatosensation. However, experimental results are increasingly demonstrating that visual and vestibular signals also play an important role in body perception, that somatosensation in body perception is not limited to touch as traditionally conceived but may also include signals from the interior of the body (interoception), and, perhaps most surprisingly, that how we perceive and represent our body can be rapidly altered by novel combinations of multisensory stimuli. These findings have important implications for our understanding of neurological impairments of body representation and for their rehabilitation.Less
The perception of our own body is a defining characteristic of our sense of self and a prerequisite for interacting with the environment and guiding movements. In the traditional view, the body is perceived mostly through somatosensation. However, experimental results are increasingly demonstrating that visual and vestibular signals also play an important role in body perception, that somatosensation in body perception is not limited to touch as traditionally conceived but may also include signals from the interior of the body (interoception), and, perhaps most surprisingly, that how we perceive and represent our body can be rapidly altered by novel combinations of multisensory stimuli. These findings have important implications for our understanding of neurological impairments of body representation and for their rehabilitation.
Gary G. Berntson, Peter J. Gianaros, and Manos Tsakiris
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198811930
- eISBN:
- 9780191850080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198811930.003.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
Although the efferent role of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in homeostasis has long been recognized, afferent aspects of the ANS—especially interoception—are increasingly recognized to be ...
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Although the efferent role of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in homeostasis has long been recognized, afferent aspects of the ANS—especially interoception—are increasingly recognized to be equally important. Interoception is fundamental to the regulation of internal physiology, particularly as it is coordinated with contextually determined and adaptive behavioral processes. A cardinal but often underappreciated feature of interoception is its role in myriad cognitive and affective processes that are integrated in health and disease. This chapter introduces the concept of interoception and outlines its historical origins and applications in multiple domains of psychology and psychobiology. It provides an overview of its peripheral and central neural substrates, and it outlines how this construct is best conceptualized within a multi-system and multi-level regulatory framework.Less
Although the efferent role of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in homeostasis has long been recognized, afferent aspects of the ANS—especially interoception—are increasingly recognized to be equally important. Interoception is fundamental to the regulation of internal physiology, particularly as it is coordinated with contextually determined and adaptive behavioral processes. A cardinal but often underappreciated feature of interoception is its role in myriad cognitive and affective processes that are integrated in health and disease. This chapter introduces the concept of interoception and outlines its historical origins and applications in multiple domains of psychology and psychobiology. It provides an overview of its peripheral and central neural substrates, and it outlines how this construct is best conceptualized within a multi-system and multi-level regulatory framework.
Micah Allen and Manos Tsakiris
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198811930
- eISBN:
- 9780191850080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198811930.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
Embodied predictive processing accounts place the visceral milieu, its homeostatic functioning, and our interoceptive awareness thereof on the center stage of self-awareness. Starting from the ...
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Embodied predictive processing accounts place the visceral milieu, its homeostatic functioning, and our interoceptive awareness thereof on the center stage of self-awareness. Starting from the privileged status that homeostatic priors have within the cortical hierarchy of an organism whose main imperative is to maintain homeostasis, we focus on the mechanisms that underlie interoceptive precision and its impact on embodiment and cognition. Beyond their privileged status for ensuring the stability of organism, this chapter considers the psychological importance that interoceptive priors and interoceptive precision have for self-awareness and the grounding of a coherent self-model. In a manner analogous to the role that interoception plays for homeostasis, interoception at the psychological level seems to contribute to the stability of self-awareness. This psychological role of interoception is illustrated by a growing body of research that considers the antagonism but also the integration between exteroceptive and interoceptive models of the self.Less
Embodied predictive processing accounts place the visceral milieu, its homeostatic functioning, and our interoceptive awareness thereof on the center stage of self-awareness. Starting from the privileged status that homeostatic priors have within the cortical hierarchy of an organism whose main imperative is to maintain homeostasis, we focus on the mechanisms that underlie interoceptive precision and its impact on embodiment and cognition. Beyond their privileged status for ensuring the stability of organism, this chapter considers the psychological importance that interoceptive priors and interoceptive precision have for self-awareness and the grounding of a coherent self-model. In a manner analogous to the role that interoception plays for homeostasis, interoception at the psychological level seems to contribute to the stability of self-awareness. This psychological role of interoception is illustrated by a growing body of research that considers the antagonism but also the integration between exteroceptive and interoceptive models of the self.
Mariana Babo-Rebelo and Catherine Tallon-Baudry
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198811930
- eISBN:
- 9780191850080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198811930.003.0003
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
The self has long been hypothesized to be rooted in the neural monitoring of bodily signals. We propose here to focus on visceral inputs, which present some key characteristics. Inputs from the heart ...
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The self has long been hypothesized to be rooted in the neural monitoring of bodily signals. We propose here to focus on visceral inputs, which present some key characteristics. Inputs from the heart or the gastrointestinal tract are continuously produced, and can reach multiple cortical targets. In addition, cardiac inputs elicit a neural response at each heartbeat that can be recorded non-invasively in humans, even in the absence of measurable changes in bodily state. We review the recent experimental evidence that neural responses to heartbeats are related to the self, in situations where the self is explicit or reflective (bodily awareness, thinking about oneself) but also when the self is implicit (the self as the agent, the self experiencing a visual input). These results are compatible with our proposal that the integration of visceral signals generates a subject-centered reference frame underlying different facets of the self.Less
The self has long been hypothesized to be rooted in the neural monitoring of bodily signals. We propose here to focus on visceral inputs, which present some key characteristics. Inputs from the heart or the gastrointestinal tract are continuously produced, and can reach multiple cortical targets. In addition, cardiac inputs elicit a neural response at each heartbeat that can be recorded non-invasively in humans, even in the absence of measurable changes in bodily state. We review the recent experimental evidence that neural responses to heartbeats are related to the self, in situations where the self is explicit or reflective (bodily awareness, thinking about oneself) but also when the self is implicit (the self as the agent, the self experiencing a visual input). These results are compatible with our proposal that the integration of visceral signals generates a subject-centered reference frame underlying different facets of the self.
Lisa Quadt, Hugo D. Critchley, and Sarah N. Garfinkel
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198811930
- eISBN:
- 9780191850080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198811930.003.0007
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
Internal states of bodily arousal contribute to emotional feeling states and behaviors. This chapter details the influence of interoceptive processing on emotion and describes how deficits in ...
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Internal states of bodily arousal contribute to emotional feeling states and behaviors. This chapter details the influence of interoceptive processing on emotion and describes how deficits in interoceptive ability may underpin aberrant emotional processes characteristic of clinical conditions. The representation and control of bodily physiology (e.g. heart rate and blood pressure) and the encoding of emotional experience and behavior share neural substrates within forebrain regions coupled to ascending neuromodulatory systems. This functional architecture provides a basis for dynamic embodiment of emotion. This chapter will approach the relationship between interoception and emotion within the interoceptive predictive processing framework and describe how emotional states could be the product of interoceptive prediction error minimization.Less
Internal states of bodily arousal contribute to emotional feeling states and behaviors. This chapter details the influence of interoceptive processing on emotion and describes how deficits in interoceptive ability may underpin aberrant emotional processes characteristic of clinical conditions. The representation and control of bodily physiology (e.g. heart rate and blood pressure) and the encoding of emotional experience and behavior share neural substrates within forebrain regions coupled to ascending neuromodulatory systems. This functional architecture provides a basis for dynamic embodiment of emotion. This chapter will approach the relationship between interoception and emotion within the interoceptive predictive processing framework and describe how emotional states could be the product of interoceptive prediction error minimization.
Sahib S. Khalsa and Justin S. Feinstein
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198811930
- eISBN:
- 9780191850080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198811930.003.0008
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
A regulatory battle for control ensues in the central nervous system following a mismatch between the current physiological state of an organism as mapped in viscerosensory brain regions and the ...
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A regulatory battle for control ensues in the central nervous system following a mismatch between the current physiological state of an organism as mapped in viscerosensory brain regions and the predicted body state as computed in visceromotor control regions. The discrepancy between the predicted and current body state (i.e. the “somatic error”) signals a need for corrective action, motivating changes in both cognition and behavior. This chapter argues that anxiety disorders are fundamentally driven by somatic errors that fail to be adaptively regulated, leaving the organism in a state of dissonance where the predicted body state is perpetually out of line with the current body state. Repeated failures to quell somatic error can result in long-term changes to interoceptive circuitry within the brain. This chapter explores the neuropsychiatric sequelae that can emerge following chronic allostatic dysregulation of somatic errors and discusses novel therapies that might help to correct this dysregulation.Less
A regulatory battle for control ensues in the central nervous system following a mismatch between the current physiological state of an organism as mapped in viscerosensory brain regions and the predicted body state as computed in visceromotor control regions. The discrepancy between the predicted and current body state (i.e. the “somatic error”) signals a need for corrective action, motivating changes in both cognition and behavior. This chapter argues that anxiety disorders are fundamentally driven by somatic errors that fail to be adaptively regulated, leaving the organism in a state of dissonance where the predicted body state is perpetually out of line with the current body state. Repeated failures to quell somatic error can result in long-term changes to interoceptive circuitry within the brain. This chapter explores the neuropsychiatric sequelae that can emerge following chronic allostatic dysregulation of somatic errors and discusses novel therapies that might help to correct this dysregulation.
Beate M. Herbert and Olga Pollatos
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198811930
- eISBN:
- 9780191850080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198811930.003.0009
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
The importance of interoception for adaptive and maladaptive behavior, as well as for psychopathology, has gained growing interest, and dysfunctional interoception has been recognized as representing ...
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The importance of interoception for adaptive and maladaptive behavior, as well as for psychopathology, has gained growing interest, and dysfunctional interoception has been recognized as representing a core impairment across psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders. Eating is intrinsically guided by interoceptive signals and is directly associated with homeostatic psychophysiological needs, well-being, and survival. This chapter provides conceptually and empirically drawn conclusions focusing on the relevance of distinguishable dimensions of interoception for shaping eating behavior and body weight, and for eating disorders. Going beyond eating behavior per se, anorexia and bulimia nervosa are conceptualized as characterized by profound impairment of the self, with dysfunctional interoception at its core. Predictive coding models are addressed to integrate conclusions and empirical findings tentatively.Less
The importance of interoception for adaptive and maladaptive behavior, as well as for psychopathology, has gained growing interest, and dysfunctional interoception has been recognized as representing a core impairment across psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders. Eating is intrinsically guided by interoceptive signals and is directly associated with homeostatic psychophysiological needs, well-being, and survival. This chapter provides conceptually and empirically drawn conclusions focusing on the relevance of distinguishable dimensions of interoception for shaping eating behavior and body weight, and for eating disorders. Going beyond eating behavior per se, anorexia and bulimia nervosa are conceptualized as characterized by profound impairment of the self, with dysfunctional interoception at its core. Predictive coding models are addressed to integrate conclusions and empirical findings tentatively.
Paul Verhaeghen
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199395606
- eISBN:
- 9780190674229
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199395606.003.0005
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter reviews studies that investigate the effects of mindfulness practice on attention under a number of guises: The effects of meditation on controlling attention, nonjudgmental alterting, ...
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This chapter reviews studies that investigate the effects of mindfulness practice on attention under a number of guises: The effects of meditation on controlling attention, nonjudgmental alterting, the limits of perception, sustained attention, and the stability of attention. It investigates whether the effects are really due to changes in attention per se or to changes in effort. It reviews work on mindfulness and proprioception and interoception (awareness of the breath and of heart rate, body awareness, awareness of how emotion inscribes itself into the body, and sensitivity to signals of sexual arousal), timekeeping, and other aspects of cognition. It also examines what is known about meditation and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Less
This chapter reviews studies that investigate the effects of mindfulness practice on attention under a number of guises: The effects of meditation on controlling attention, nonjudgmental alterting, the limits of perception, sustained attention, and the stability of attention. It investigates whether the effects are really due to changes in attention per se or to changes in effort. It reviews work on mindfulness and proprioception and interoception (awareness of the breath and of heart rate, body awareness, awareness of how emotion inscribes itself into the body, and sensitivity to signals of sexual arousal), timekeeping, and other aspects of cognition. It also examines what is known about meditation and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Adrián Yoris, Adolfo M. García, Paula Celeste Salamone, Lucas Sedeño, Indira García-Cordero, and Agustín Ibáñez
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198811930
- eISBN:
- 9780191850080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198811930.003.0010
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
Dimensional and transdiagnostic approaches have revealed multiple cognitive/emotional alterations shared by several neuropsychiatric conditions. While this has been shown for externally triggered ...
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Dimensional and transdiagnostic approaches have revealed multiple cognitive/emotional alterations shared by several neuropsychiatric conditions. While this has been shown for externally triggered neurocognitive processes, the disruption of interoception across neurological disorders remains poorly understood. This chapter aims to fill this gap while proposing cardiac interoception as a potential common biomarker across disorders. It focuses on key aspects of interoception, such as the mechanisms underlying different interoceptive dimensions; the relationship among interoception, emotion, and social cognition; and the roles of different interoceptive pathways. It considers behavioral and brain evidence in the context of an experimental and clinical agenda to evaluate the potential role of interoception as a predictor of clinical outcomes, a marker of neurocognitive deficits across diseases, and a general source of insights for breakthroughs in the treatment and prevention of multiple disorders. Finally, future directions to improve the dimensional and transdiagnostic assessment of interoception are outlined.Less
Dimensional and transdiagnostic approaches have revealed multiple cognitive/emotional alterations shared by several neuropsychiatric conditions. While this has been shown for externally triggered neurocognitive processes, the disruption of interoception across neurological disorders remains poorly understood. This chapter aims to fill this gap while proposing cardiac interoception as a potential common biomarker across disorders. It focuses on key aspects of interoception, such as the mechanisms underlying different interoceptive dimensions; the relationship among interoception, emotion, and social cognition; and the roles of different interoceptive pathways. It considers behavioral and brain evidence in the context of an experimental and clinical agenda to evaluate the potential role of interoception as a predictor of clinical outcomes, a marker of neurocognitive deficits across diseases, and a general source of insights for breakthroughs in the treatment and prevention of multiple disorders. Finally, future directions to improve the dimensional and transdiagnostic assessment of interoception are outlined.
Omer Van den Bergh, Nadia Zacharioudakis, and Sibylle Petersen
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198811930
- eISBN:
- 9780191850080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198811930.003.0011
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
Medical practice and the disease model importantly rely on the accuracy assumption of symptom perception: patients’ symptom reports are a direct and accurate reflection of physiological dysfunction. ...
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Medical practice and the disease model importantly rely on the accuracy assumption of symptom perception: patients’ symptom reports are a direct and accurate reflection of physiological dysfunction. This implies that symptoms can be used as a read-out of dysfunction and that remedying the dysfunction removes the symptoms. While this assumption is viable in many instances of disease, the relationship between symptoms and physiological dysfunction is highly variable and, in a substantial number of cases, completely absent. This chapter considers symptom perception as a form of unconscious inferential somatic decision-making that compellingly produces consciously experienced symptoms. At a mechanistic level, this perspective removes the categorical distinction between symptoms that are closely associated with physiological dysfunction and those that are not. In addition, it brings symptom perception in accordance with general theories of perception. Some clinical implications to understand and treat symptoms poorly related to physiological dysfunction are discussed.Less
Medical practice and the disease model importantly rely on the accuracy assumption of symptom perception: patients’ symptom reports are a direct and accurate reflection of physiological dysfunction. This implies that symptoms can be used as a read-out of dysfunction and that remedying the dysfunction removes the symptoms. While this assumption is viable in many instances of disease, the relationship between symptoms and physiological dysfunction is highly variable and, in a substantial number of cases, completely absent. This chapter considers symptom perception as a form of unconscious inferential somatic decision-making that compellingly produces consciously experienced symptoms. At a mechanistic level, this perspective removes the categorical distinction between symptoms that are closely associated with physiological dysfunction and those that are not. In addition, it brings symptom perception in accordance with general theories of perception. Some clinical implications to understand and treat symptoms poorly related to physiological dysfunction are discussed.
Norman A. S. Farb and Kyle Logie
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198811930
- eISBN:
- 9780191850080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198811930.003.0012
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
Interoception is the process of sensing the body’s internal state. An emerging neurobiological model supports the idea that subjective well-being is influenced by how physiological changes are ...
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Interoception is the process of sensing the body’s internal state. An emerging neurobiological model supports the idea that subjective well-being is influenced by how physiological changes are detected and appraised. Contemplative interventions such as mindfulness training, which appear efficacious in reducing emotional distress, may operate by promoting curiosity and flexibility in this appraisal process. This chapter reviews evidence about the relationship between interceptive appraisal and mental health, including an account of how contemplative training modulates interoceptive networks to alter interoceptive appraisal tendencies. New measures are needed to distinguish the effects of appraisal tendencies from more implicit effects of physiological change. To support this endeavour, pilot data is introduced from a novel, respiration-focused task that experimentally manipulates interoceptive awareness, and by extension the need for interoceptive appraisal, within a given level of physiological arousal. Potential applications of this task for exploring the influence of interoceptive appraisal on affect, cognition, and behavior are discussed.Less
Interoception is the process of sensing the body’s internal state. An emerging neurobiological model supports the idea that subjective well-being is influenced by how physiological changes are detected and appraised. Contemplative interventions such as mindfulness training, which appear efficacious in reducing emotional distress, may operate by promoting curiosity and flexibility in this appraisal process. This chapter reviews evidence about the relationship between interceptive appraisal and mental health, including an account of how contemplative training modulates interoceptive networks to alter interoceptive appraisal tendencies. New measures are needed to distinguish the effects of appraisal tendencies from more implicit effects of physiological change. To support this endeavour, pilot data is introduced from a novel, respiration-focused task that experimentally manipulates interoceptive awareness, and by extension the need for interoceptive appraisal, within a given level of physiological arousal. Potential applications of this task for exploring the influence of interoceptive appraisal on affect, cognition, and behavior are discussed.
