The respiratory modulation of interoception

In a recent article published in The Journal of Neurophysiology titled Sensitivity to changes in rate of heartbeats as a measure of interoceptive ability, Larsson et al. (J Neurophysiol 126: 1799-1813, 2021) introduce a new method to evaluate the interoceptive ability and report a surprising tendency in humans to perceive fewer heartbeats during spontaneous increases in resting heart rate. The authors argue that this result reflects a reduction in the strength of the heartbeat during the inspiration periods. Here, we discuss this finding and propose a complementary interpretation grounded on consciousness research and an emerging literature showing the influence of the breathing phase on perception and brain activity at rest.

Automated summary

In this article, a new method for evaluating interoceptive ability is introduced, and it is reported that humans tend to perceive fewer heartbeats during spontaneous increases in heart rate. The authors argue that this may be due to a reduction in the strength of the heartbeat during inspiration.