title: Is the cardiac monitoring function related to the self in both the default network and right anterior insula?
abstract: The self has been proposed to be rooted in the neural monitoring of internal bodily signals and might thus involve interoceptive areas, notably the right anterior insula (rAI). However, studies on the self consistently showed the involvement of midline default network (DN) nodes, without referring to visceral monitoring. Here, we investigate this apparent discrepancy. We previously showed that neural responses to heartbeats in the DN encode two different self-dimensions, the agentive 'I' and the introspective 'Me', in a whole-brain analysis of magnetoencephalography (MEG) data. Here, we confirm and anatomically refine this result with intracranial recordings (intracranial electroencephalography, iEEG). In two patients, we show a parametric modulation of neural responses to heartbeats by the self-relatedness of thoughts, at the single trial level. A region-of-interest analysis of the insula reveals that MEG responses to heartbeats in the rAI encode the 'I' self-dimension. The effect in rAI was weaker than in the DN and was replicated in iEEG data in one patient out of two. We propose that a common mechanism, the neural monitoring of cardiac signals, underlies the self in both the DN and rAI. This might reconcile studies on the self highlighting the DN, with studies on interoception focusing on the insula.This article is part of the themed issue 'Interoception beyond homeostasis: affect, cognition and mental health'.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (ENS - INSERM U960), Département d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure - PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France mariana.babo-rebelo@ens.fr.
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8664-7427
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Babo-Rebelo
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (ENS - INSERM U960), Département d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure - PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Nicolai
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wolpert
authors.affiliation: AP-HP, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris 75013, France.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Adam
authors.affiliation: AP-HP, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris 75013, France.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hasboun
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (ENS - INSERM U960), Département d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure - PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8480-5831
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tallon-Baudry
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition; D000069280:Electrocorticography; D025461:Feedback, Physiological; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D065812:Interoception; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: heartbeat-evoked responses; interoception; intracranial electroencephalography; magnetoencephalography; neural responses to heartbeats; spontaneous cognition