Interoceptive awareness moderates neural activity during decision-making.
The current study examined the relationship between conscious perception of somatic feedback (interoceptive awareness) and neural responses preceding decision-making. Previous research has suggested that decision-making is influenced by body signals from the periphery or the central representation of the periphery. Using event-related fMRI, participants whose interoceptive awareness was assessed using a heartbeat perception paradigm performed the Iowa Gambling Task. The results show a positive relationship between the degree of interoceptive awareness and selection related activity in the right anterior insula and the left postcentral gyrus. Neural activity within the right anterior insula was associated with decision-making performance only in individuals with accurate but not in those with non-accurate interoceptive awareness. These findings support the role of somatic feedback in decision-making processes. They indicate that the right anterior insula holds a representation of somatic markers and that these are more strongly processed with increased interoceptive awareness.
Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 13, 80802 München, Germany. Electronic address: werner@psy.lmu.de.
Natalie S
NS
Werner
Nicola
N
Schweitzer
Thomas
T
Meindl
Stefan
S
Duschek
Joseph
J
Kambeitz
Rainer
R
Schandry
D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D025461:Feedback, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests
Decision-making; Interoceptive awareness; Iowa Gambling Task; fMRI