Cluster peak coordinates submitted to meta-analysis from Neural correlates of heart-focused interoception: an functional magnetic resonance imaging meta-analysis

Interoception is the ability to perceive one's internal body state including visceral sensations. Heart-focused interoception has received particular attention, in part due to a readily available task for behavioural assessment, but also due to accumulating evidence for a significant role in emotional experience, decision-making and clinical disorders such as anxiety and depression. Improved understanding of the underlying neural correlates is important to promote development of anatomical-functional models and suitable intervention strategies. In the present meta-analysis, nine studies reporting neural activity associated with <i>interoceptive attentiveness</i> (i.e. focused attention to a particular interoceptive signal for a given time interval) to one's heartbeat were submitted to a multilevel kernel density analysis. The findings corroborated an extended network associated with heart-focused interoceptive attentiveness including the posterior right and left insula, and right claustrum, precentral gyrus and medial frontal gyrus. Right-hemispheric dominance emphasizes non-verbal information processing with the posterior insula presumably serving as major gateway for cardioception. Prefrontal neural activity may reflect both top-down attention deployment and processing of feed-forward cardioceptive information, possibly orchestrated via the claustrum.This article is part of the themed issue ‘Interoception beyond homeostasis: affect, cognition and mental health’

Individual trajectories of RSA uncorrected and corrected for respiration (both tidal volume and respiration rate) across the three episodes of the first Still-Face Test (n = 23).

<p>Individual trajectories of RSA uncorrected and corrected for respiration (both tidal volume and respiration rate) across the three episodes of the first Still-Face Test (n = 23).</p

Overview of the Still-Face Paradigm.

<p>Overview of the Still-Face Paradigm.</p

Means ± standard deviations of respiration-uncorrected and respiration-corrected RSA indices, respiration measures, and HR for Still-Face Test episodes.

<p><i>Note:</i> HR = heart rate; V_T = tidal volume; RSA = respiratory sinus arrhythmia; T_TOT = total respiratory cycle time; HR = heart rate; RSA/V_T = RSA normalized by V_T; c = adjusted for T_TOT; logRSA = logarithm(RSA+1); logRSA/V_T = logarithm(RSA/V_T)+1.</p

ANOVA time effects (<i>df</i> = 4,60 or 2,44) and paired <i>t</i>-tests (<i>df</i> = 15 or 22) measuring reduction in additional respiration-uncorrected and corrected RSA indices during Still-Face Test 1 and 2.

<p><i>Note:</i> V_T = tidal volume; RSA = respiratory sinus arrhythmia; T_TOT = total respiratory cycle time; HR = heart rate; RSA/V_T = RSA normalized by V_T; c = adjusted for total respiratory cycle time; logRSA = logarithm(RSA+1); logRSA/V_T = logarithm(RSA/V_T)+1.</p><p><i>p</i>-level of both tests Bonferroni-adjusted for all indices.</p

Overall ANOVA time effects (df = 4,66 or 2,44) for changes in physiological parameters across Still-Face Tests and paired t-tests (df = 15 or 22) testing changes from Play to Still-Face episodes 1 and 2.

<p><i>Note</i>: P = Play episode; SF1 = Still-Face episode 1; SF2 = Still-Face episode 2; T_TOT = total respiratory cycle time; V_T = tidal volume; RSA = respiratory sinus arrhythmia; logRSA/V_Tc = logarithm of RSA normalized by V_T (logarithm(RSA/V_T)+1), adjusted for T_TOT; HR = heart rate.</p>†<p><i>p</i>-level of both <i>t</i>-tests for each index are Bonferroni-adjusted in this subgroup.</p

RSA (uncorrected and corrected for respiration), respiratory parameters, physical activity and heart rate across the two Still-Face Test challenges (n = 16).

<p>RSA (uncorrected and corrected for respiration), respiratory parameters, physical activity and heart rate across the two Still-Face Test challenges (n = 16).</p

RSA, respiration, and heart rate across Still-Face Test episodes controlled for physical activity: Linear mixed model overall <i>F</i> tests (<i>df</i> = 2 or 4, 50.0 to 67.7), time-varying covariate activity effect <i>F</i>-tests (<i>df</i> = 1, 25.7 to 77.8) and <i>t</i>-tests (<i>df</i> = 52.4 to 77.7) testing changes from Play to Still-Face episode 1 and 2.

<p><i>Note:</i> V_T = tidal volume; RSA = respiratory sinus arrhythmia; T_TOT = total respiratory cycle time; HR = heart rate; RSA/V_T = RSA normalized by V_T; c = adjusted.</p><p>for total respiratory cycle time; logRSA = logarithm(RSA+1); logRSA/V_T = logarithm(RSA/V_T)+1.</p

Percentages of breaths too short to allow extraction of two inter-beat intervals for peak-valley RSA calculation in infants.

<p><i>Note:</i> RSA = respiratory sinus arrhythmia; Frequencies across episodes (as % of analyzed breaths) and ANOVA time effects for infants with one Still-Face Test (<i>n</i> = 23, <i>df</i> = 2,44) and two Still-Face Tests (<i>n</i> = 16, <i>df</i> = 4,60).</p>†<p><i>p</i><.10.</p

Within-individual association of infant RSA with respiratory parameters T_TOT entered in Step 1 and V_T entered in Step 2, or in reverse order, calculated across all episodes of the Still-Face Paradigm.

<p><i>Note:</i> T_TOT = total respiratory cycle time; V_T = tidal volume; RSA = respiratory sinus arrhythmia.</p>†<p>frequency of positive within-individual correlations for which <i>p</i><.10.</p>§<p>range of <i>n</i> = 126–444 breaths.</p