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

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 interocep-tive sensibility (MAIA scale) predicted sparing from deactivation within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left-lat-eralized language regions. The right insula, typically described as a primary interoceptive cortex, was only specifically implicated by its deactivation during an exogenously paced respiration condition (Active Matching) relative to self -paced Active Interoception. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis characterized Active Interoception as pro-moting greater ACC connectivity with lateral prefrontal and parietal regions commonly referred to as the dorsal atten-tion network (DAN). In contrast to evidence relating accurate detection of liminal interoceptive signals such as the heartbeat to anterior insula activity, interoceptive attention toward salient signals such as the respiratory cycle may in-volve reduced cortical activity but greater ACC-DAN connectivity, with greater sensibility linked to reduced deactiva-tion within the ACC and language-processing regions.

Automated summary

Interoception, the representation of the body's internal state, is important for emotion, motivation, and wellbeing. The neural mechanisms of interoceptive attention are not well understood. A novel neuroimaging paradigm called the Interoceptive/Exteroceptive Attention Task (IEAT) was used to study interoceptive attention. The study found that active interoception deactivated certain brain regions and greater self-reported interoceptive sensibility predicted less deactivation in specific regions. The results suggest that interoceptive attention involves reduced cortical activity but greater connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and other brain regions.