title: Short-term food deprivation increases amplitudes of heartbeat-evoked potentials.
abstract: Nutritional state (i.e., fasting or nonfasting) may affect the processing of interoceptive signals, but mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. We investigated 16 healthy women on two separate days: when satiated (standardized food intake) and after an 18-h food deprivation period. On both days, heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs) and cardiac and autonomic nervous system activation indices (heart rate, normalized low frequency heart rate variability [nLF HRV]) were assessed. The HEP is an EEG pattern that is considered an index of cortical representation of afferent cardiovascular signals. Average HEP activity (R wave +455-595 ms) was enhanced during food deprivation compared to normal food intake. Cardiac activation did not differ between nutritional conditions. Our results indicate that short-term food deprivation amplifies an electrophysiological correlate of the cortical representation of visceral-afferent signals originating from the cardiovascular system. This effect could not be attributed to increased cardiac activation, as estimated by heart rate and nLF HRV, after food deprivation.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health and Behaviour, Research Unit INSIDE, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Institute of Psychobiology, Division of Clinical Psychophysiology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Diana S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Ferreira de Sá
authors.forename: Angelika M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Dierolf
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.forename: Zoé
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: van Dyck
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vögele
authors.forename: Hartmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schächinger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005508:Food Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Eating behavior; Fasting; Food deprivation; Heartbeat detection; Heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs); Interoception; Nutrition; Symptom perception; Visceral perception