@article{KochPollatos2014, author = {Koch, Anne and Pollatos, Olga}, title = {Cardiac sensitivity in children: Sex differences and its relationship to parameters of emotional processing}, series = {Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research}, volume = {51}, journal = {Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research}, number = {9}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0048-5772}, doi = {10.1111/psyp.12233}, pages = {932 -- 941}, year = {2014}, abstract = {In adults, the level of ability to perceive one's own body signals plays an important role for many concepts of emotional experience as demonstrated for emotion processing or emotion regulation. Representative data on perception of body signals and its emotional correlates in children is lacking. Therefore, the present study investigated the cardiac sensitivity of 1,350 children between 6 and 11 years of age in a heartbeat perception task. Our main findings demonstrated the distribution of cardiac sensitivity in children as well as associations with interpersonal emotional intelligence and adaptability. Furthermore, independent of body mass index, boys showed a significantly higher cardiac sensitivity than girls. We conclude that cardiac sensitivity in children appears to show weaker but similar characteristics and relations to emotional parameters as found in adults, so that a dynamic developmental process can be assumed.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{NowozinWahnschaffeFayetal.2014, author = {Nowozin, Claudia and Wahnschaffe, A. and Fay, Doris and Pollatos, Olga and Kunz, D.}, title = {Does bright light interfere with fear learning?}, series = {Journal of sleep research : official journal of the European Sleep Research Society}, volume = {23}, booktitle = {Journal of sleep research : official journal of the European Sleep Research Society}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0962-1105}, pages = {102 -- 102}, year = {2014}, language = {en} } @article{PollatosYeldesbayPikovskijetal.2014, author = {Pollatos, Olga and Yeldesbay, Azamat and Pikovskij, Arkadij and Rosenblum, Michael}, title = {How much time has passed? Ask your heart}, series = {Frontiers in neurorobotics}, volume = {8}, journal = {Frontiers in neurorobotics}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1662-5218}, doi = {10.3389/fnbot.2014.00015}, pages = {1 -- 9}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Internal signals like one's heartbeats are centrally processed via specific pathways and both their neural representations as well as their conscious perception (interoception) provide key information for many cognitive processes. Recent empirical findings propose that neural processes in the insular cortex, which are related to bodily signals, might constitute a neurophysiological mechanism for the encoding of duration. Nevertheless, the exact nature of such a proposed relationship remains unclear. We aimed to address this question by searching for the effects of cardiac rhythm on time perception by the use of a duration reproduction paradigm. Time intervals used were of 0.5, 2, 3, 7, 10, 14, 25, and 40s length. In a framework of synchronization hypothesis, measures of phase locking between the cardiac cycle and start/stop signals of the reproduction task were calculated to quantify this relationship. The main result is that marginally significant synchronization indices (Sls) between the heart cycle and the time reproduction responses for the time intervals of 2, 3, 10, 14, and 25s length were obtained, while results were not significant for durations of 0.5, 7, and 40s length. On the single participant level, several subjects exhibited some synchrony between the heart cycle and the time reproduction responses, most pronounced for the time interval of 25s (8 out of 23 participants for 20\% quantile). Better time reproduction accuracy was not related with larger degree of phase locking, but with greater vagal control of the heart. A higher interoceptive sensitivity (IS) was associated with a higher synchronization index (SI) for the 2s time interval only. We conclude that information obtained from the cardiac cycle is relevant for the encoding and reproduction of time in the time span of 2-25s. Sympathovagal tone as well as interoceptive processes mediate the accuracy of time estimation.}, language = {en} } @article{PollatosLaubrockWittmann2014, author = {Pollatos, Olga and Laubrock, Jochen and Wittmann, Marc}, title = {Interoceptive focus shapes the experience of time}, series = {PLoS one}, volume = {9}, journal = {PLoS one}, number = {1}, publisher = {PLoS}, address = {San Fransisco}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0086934}, pages = {6}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The perception of time is a fundamental part of human experience. Recent research suggests that the experience of time emerges from emotional and interoceptive (bodily) states as processed in the insular cortex. Whether there is an interaction between the conscious awareness of interoceptive states and time distortions induced by emotions has rarely been investigated so far. We aimed to address this question by the use of a retrospective time estimation task comparing two groups of participants. One group had a focus on interoceptive states and one had a focus on exteroceptive information while watching film clips depicting fear, amusement and neutral content. Main results were that attention to interoceptive processes significantly affected subjective time experience. Fear was accompanied with subjective time dilation that was more pronounced in the group with interoceptive focus, while amusement led to a quicker passage of time which was also increased by interoceptive focus. We conclude that retrospective temporal distortions are directly influenced by attention to bodily responses. These effects might crucially interact with arousal levels. Sympathetic nervous system activation affecting memory build-up might be the decisive factor influencing retrospective time judgments. Our data substantially extend former research findings underscoring the relevance of interoception for the effects of emotional states on subjective time experience.}, language = {en} } @article{KochPollatos2014, author = {Koch, Anne and Pollatos, Olga}, title = {Interoceptive sensitivty, body weight and eating behavior in children: a prospective study}, series = {Frontiers in psychology}, volume = {5}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01003}, pages = {11}, year = {2014}, language = {en} }