@article{WarschburgerWortmannGischetal.2022, author = {Warschburger, Petra and Wortmann, Hanna Rosalie and Gisch, Ulrike A. and Baer, Nadja-Raphaela and Schenk, Liane and Anton, Verena and Bergmann, Manuela M.}, title = {An experimental approach to training interoceptive sensitivity}, series = {Nutrition Journal}, volume = {21}, journal = {Nutrition Journal}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {London}, issn = {1475-2891}, doi = {10.1186/s12937-022-00827-4}, pages = {16}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Background Eating in absence of hunger is quite common and often associated with an increased energy intake co-existent with a poorer food choice. Intuitive eating (IE), i.e., eating in accordance with internal hunger and satiety cues, may protect from overeating. IE, however, requires accurate perception and processing of one's own bodily signals, also referred to as interoceptive sensitivity. Training interoceptive sensitivity might therefore be an effective method to promote IE and prevent overeating. As most studies on eating behavior are conducted in younger adults and close social relationships influence health-related behavior, this study focuses on middle-aged and older couples. Methods The present pilot randomized intervention study aims at investigating the feasibility and effectiveness of a 21-day mindfulness-based training program designed to increase interoceptive sensitivity. A total of N = 60 couples participating in the NutriAct Family Study, aged 50-80 years, will be recruited. This randomized-controlled intervention study comprises three measurement points (pre-intervention, post-intervention, 4-week follow-up) and a 21-day training that consists of daily mindfulness-based guided audio exercises (e.g., body scan). A three-arm intervention study design is applied to compare two intervention groups (training together as a couple vs. training alone) with a control group (no training). Each measurement point includes the assessment of self-reported and objective indicators of interoceptive sensitivity (primary outcome), self-reported indicators of intuitive and maladaptive eating (secondary outcomes), and additional variables. A training evaluation applying focus group discussions will be conducted to assess participants' overall acceptance of the training and its feasibility. Discussion By investigating the feasibility and effectiveness of a mindfulness-based training program to increase interoceptive sensitivity, the present study will contribute to a deeper understanding of how to promote healthy eating in older age.}, language = {en} } @article{SchaanSchulzNuraydinetal.2019, author = {Schaan, Luca and Schulz, Andre and Nuraydin, Sevim and Bergert, Cora and Hilger, Annett and Rach, Hannah and Hechler, Tanja}, title = {Interoceptive accuracy, emotion recognition, and emotion regulation in preschool children}, series = {International journal of psychophysiology}, volume = {138}, journal = {International journal of psychophysiology}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0167-8760}, doi = {10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2019.02.001}, pages = {47 -- 56}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Little is known about the conscious experience of internal bodily sensations in preschool-aged children. Given that preschoolers are in the most rapid phase of brain development, and display profound emotional development, it was the aim of the present study to establish an adapted interoceptive accuracy paradigm and to investigate associations between sociodemographic (age, sex) and emotional variables with interoceptive accuracy. Forty-nine children (aged 4-6 years) completed the jumping jack paradigm (JJP), a heartbeat tracking paradigm, which includes a noninvasive physical perturbation via performing jumping jacks for 10 s. An interoceptive accuracy score was based on the comparison between self-reported and objectively recorded heart rate prior to and after completion of jumping jacks. Children also completed validated measures for emotion recognition and emotion regulation. Children's objectively recorded heart rate significantly increased after the JJP by 20 bpm on average. There was a positive relationship between reactivity on self-reported heart rate and objectively recorded heart rate increase. The derived scores for interoceptive accuracy increased with age, suggesting older children to report more self-reported heart rate change than objectively recorded, but were unrelated to children's sex or BMI. While emotion recognition and regulation significantly increased with age, the interoceptive accuracy score was unrelated to emotion recognition, but marginally associated to emotion regulation. Children with higher interoceptive accuracy score (i.e., self-reporting more heart rate change than objectively recorded) received lower emotion regulation score. The present study is the first to depict a novel behavioral paradigm to assess interoceptive accuracy in preschool-aged children.}, language = {en} } @article{PollatosFuestoesCritchley2012, author = {Pollatos, Olga and Fuestoes, Juergen and Critchley, Hugo D.}, title = {On the generalised embodiment of pain: how interoceptive sensitivity modulates cutaneous pain perception}, series = {Pain : journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain}, volume = {153}, journal = {Pain : journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain}, number = {8}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0304-3959}, doi = {10.1016/j.pain.2012.04.030}, pages = {1680 -- 1686}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Individual differences in interoceptive sensitivity are associated with differences in reported intensity of emotional experience, vulnerability to anxiety and mood disorder and capacity for emotional self-regulation. Enhanced sensitivity to autonomic state is often accompanied by increased autonomic reactivity. Here we tested the hypothesis that healthy people classified as more interoceptively sensitive, by their performance of a heartbeat monitoring task, will demonstrate enhanced perception of pain. We further explored whether this effect is associated with a greater physiological reactivity to the pain stimuli. Using an algometer, cutaneous pressure pain was applied to the thenar eminence in 60 healthy participants. Heart rate variability and respiratory activity were recorded concurrently. We observed significant relationships between heightened interoceptive sensitivity and both enhanced sensitivity and decreased tolerance to pain. These effects were accompanied by a more pronounced parasympathetic decrease and a change in sympathovagal balance during pain assessment in the high, compared to the low, interoceptively sensitive group. Our study provides novel evidence that interoceptive sensitivity is associated with the experience and tolerability of pain in conjunction with reactive changes in autonomic balance.}, language = {en} } @article{HerbertPollatos2012, author = {Herbert, Beate M. and Pollatos, Olga}, title = {The body in the mind On the relationship between interoception and embodiment}, series = {Topics in cognitive science}, volume = {4}, journal = {Topics in cognitive science}, number = {4}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1756-8757}, doi = {10.1111/j.1756-8765.2012.01189.x}, pages = {692 -- 704}, year = {2012}, abstract = {The processing, representation, and perception of bodily signals (interoception) plays an important role for human behavior. Theories of embodied cognition hold that higher cognitive processes operate on perceptual symbols and that concept use involves reactivations of the sensory-motor states that occur during experience with the world. Similarly, activation of interoceptive representations and meta-representations of bodily signals supporting interoceptive awareness are profoundly associated with emotional experience and cognitive functions. This article gives an overview over present findings and models on interoception and mechanisms of embodiment and highlights its relevance for disorders that are suggested to represent a translation deficit of bodily states into subjective feelings and self-awareness.}, language = {en} }