Interoceptive Awareness of the Breath Preserves Attention and Language Networks amidst Widespread Cortical Deactivation: A Within-Participant Neuroimaging Study.

ABSTRACT: Interoception, the representation of the body's internal state, serves as a foundation for emotion, motivation, and wellbeing. Yet despite its centrality in human experience, the neural mechanisms of interoceptive attention are poorly understood. The Interoceptive/Exteroceptive Attention Task (IEAT) is a novel neuroimaging paradigm that compares behavioral tracking of the respiratory cycle (Active Interoception) to tracking of a visual stimulus (Active Exteroception). Twenty-two healthy participants completed the IEAT during two separate scanning sessions (N = 44) as part of a randomized control trial of mindful awareness in body-oriented therapy (MABT). Compared with Active Exteroception, Active Interoception deactivated somatomotor and prefrontal regions. Greater self-reported int

SUBMITTER: Farb NAS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10295813 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature