Mai Sandra, Wong Chung Ki, Georgiou Eleana, Pollatos Olga
Clinical and Health Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Germany.
Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR), Tulsa, OK, USA.
Biol Psychol. 2018 Sep;137:24-33. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.06.007. Epub 2018 Jun 23.
Heartbeat-evoked brain potentials (HEPs) are an index of the cortical reflection of cardiac interoceptive signals. Studies which have examined interoception in adolescents with the use of HEPs are not known to the authors so far. This study investigated the function of the HEP as a marker of interoception in adolescents. EEG and ECG were recorded in 46 adolescents during a resting condition and during a heartbeat detection task. Participants were asked for confidence in their interoceptive accuracy during heartbeat perception. HEPs appeared during both conditions, showing maximal activity over frontocentral electrodes in the heartbeat condition, and highest activity over occipital locations in the resting condition. Interoceptive accuracy (IAc) was positively associated with the HEP at frontocentral locations only for the heartbeat condition. Interoceptive sensibility was not associated with the HEP. No significant association between IAc and interoceptive sensibility was revealed. Our results highlight the relevance of the HEP as a neural marker of interoception in adolescents. Its use as an indicator of vulnerability for affective, physical and mental dysfunctions during adolescence should be exploited in future studies.
心跳诱发脑电位（HEPs）是心脏内感受信号皮层反射的一个指标。据作者所知，目前尚未有研究使用HEPs来检测青少年的内感受。本研究调查了HEPs作为青少年内感受标志物的功能。在46名青少年处于静息状态和心跳检测任务期间记录了脑电图（EEG）和心电图（ECG）。在心跳感知过程中，要求参与者对其内感受准确性的信心进行评估。在两种状态下均出现了HEPs，在心跳状态下，额中央电极上显示出最大活动，而在静息状态下，枕部位置的活动最高。仅在心跳状态下，额中央位置的内感受准确性（IAc）与HEPs呈正相关。内感受敏感性与HEPs无关。未发现IAc与内感受敏感性之间存在显著关联。我们的结果突出了HEPs作为青少年内感受神经标志物的相关性。在未来的研究中，应利用其作为青少年情感、身体和心理功能障碍易感性指标的作用。
