title: Suppression of the auditory N1-component for heartbeat-related sounds reflects interoceptive predictive coding.
abstract: Although many studies have elucidated the neurocognitive mechanisms supporting the processing of externally generated sensory signals, less is known about the processing of interoceptive signals related to the viscera. Drawing a parallel with research on agency and the perception of self-generated action effects, in the present EEG study we report a reduced auditory N1 component when participants listened to heartbeat-related sounds compared to externally generated sounds. The auditory suppression for heartbeat sounds was robust and persisted after controlling for ECG-related artifacts, the number of trials involved and the phase of the cardiac cycle. In addition, the auditory N1 suppression for heartbeat-related sounds had a comparable scalp distribution as the N1 suppression observed for actively generated sounds. This finding indicates that the brain automatically differentiates between heartbeat-related and externally generated sounds through a process of sensory suppression, suggesting that a comparable predictive mechanism may underlie the processing of heartbeat and action-related information. Extending recent behavioral data about cardio-visual integration, the present cardio-auditory EEG data reveal that the processing of sounds in auditory cortex is systematically modulated by an interoceptive cardiac signal. The findings are discussed with respect to theories of interoceptive awareness, emotion, predictive coding, and their relevance to bodily self-consciousness.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.vanelk@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Michiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Elk
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology Unit, Neurology Department, University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Bigna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lenggenhager
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Heydrich
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Geneva, Switzerland; Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Blanke
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006347:Heart Sounds / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Agency; Auditory N1; EEG; Interoception; Predictive coding; Sensory suppression