Interoceptive attention and cardiac awareness modulates heartbeat-evoked responses and connectivity
Poster No:
2043
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Su Hyun Bong1, Jaewon Kim1, Dayoung Yoon1, Hyunsoo Park1, Bumseok Jeong1
Institutions:
1KAIST, Daejeon, Daejeon
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
The heartbeat-evoked response (HER), a time-locked EEG response to the ECG R-peak, is known to be altered by cardiac awareness, pointing to it as an important neural correlate of interoception(Park et al., 2019). However, the HER changes that occur when performing a heartbeat counting task(Schandry, 1981), a behavioral task commonly used in this kind of research, are not specific to cardiac awareness. We created a new behavioral task that can distinguish cardiac awareness during interoceptive attention.
Methods:
We recruited thirty-two healthy participants (16 men, mean age 24, range 19-31) for the study, during which EEGs were recorded as they performed a heartbeat awareness task. This task, consisting of 40 trials, required participants to focus on their heartbeat for 5 seconds while watching a white clock hand turn. If a heartbeat was detected, participants were to remember the position of the clock hands at that moment and later report the number of heartbeats perceived and the position of the hands at the end of the 5 seconds (Figure 1). This task was designed to determine the perception of a single heartbeat. For HER analysis, we compared the 'Attention' condition-a 5-second focus period-with the eye-open resting condition, which participants performed three times, each session starting two minutes after the task. Heartbeats perceived during the 'Attention' condition were labeled as 'detect' and those not perceived as 'omit'. Additionally, imaginary coherence within the alpha band (8-12 Hz) and a time window of 200-600 ms was calculated to assess connectivity differences between conditions.
·Experimental paradigm of the heartbeat awareness task
Results:
Consistent with previous studies, the HER showed a significant difference between the Attention and Resting conditions (214-432 ms, maximum t-value = 6.956, corrected p-value < 0.05), although no significant difference was observed between the detect and omit conditions. However, a post hoc analysis that calculated a metric of heartbeat reporting consistency during the cardiac cycle revealed a significant difference (207-323 ms, maximum t-value = 23.758, corrected p < 0.05). For alpha-band connectivity (imaginary coherence), significant differences were identified between Attention and Resting as well as between Detect and Omit, both at the sensor and source levels. Specifically, the Attention condition exhibited weaker connectivity compared to the Resting condition, and the Detect condition showed weaker connectivity compared to the Omit condition.
Conclusions:
Cardiac awareness is more accurately identified by changes in whole brain connectivity than by a time-locked, evoked response to the R-peak. Alpha-band connectivity is known to suppress irrelevant stimuli in the context of selective attention(Palva & Palva, 2011). Normally, the repetitive stimulus of a heartbeat, which is consistently present, is suppressed; however, when we consciously focus on sensing our heartbeat, this suppression diminishes. This reduction may be evidenced by a decrease in alpha-band connectivity.
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Connectivity (eg. functional, effective, structural)
EEG/MEG Modeling and Analysis
Perception, Attention and Motor Behavior:
Consciousness and Awareness 2
Perception: Pain and Visceral 1
Keywords:
Electroencephaolography (EEG)
Perception
Other - Interoception, Heartbeat Evoked Response, Cardiac awareness
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Abstract Information
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Healthy subjects only or patients (note that patient studies may also involve healthy subjects):
Was this research conducted in the United States?
Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel? NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
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Provide references using APA citation style.
Schandry, R. (1981). Heart beat perception and emotional experience. Psychophysiology, 18(4), 483–488.
Palva, S., & Palva, J. M. (2011). Functional roles of alpha-band phase synchronization in local and large-scale cortical networks. Frontiers in psychology, 2, 204. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00204