Kinnaird Emma, Stewart Catherine, Tchanturia Kate
King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
Maudsley Centre for Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
Front Psychiatry. 2020 Feb 21;11:64. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00064. eCollection 2020.
Previous research on whether interoception is altered in anorexia nervosa (AN) using the heartbeat tracking task has yielded inconsistent results. However, no previous research has examined whether interoception is associated with alexithymia and autistic traits in AN, conditions which are more prevalent in this population and thought to be related to performance in this task. The aim of this study was to explore whether altered interoception in AN is associated with alexithymia and autistic traits.
We assessed interoceptive accuracy using the heartbeat tracking task in = 37 people with AN, and = 37 age and gender matched healthy controls (HC), and explored within the AN group if interoceptive accuracy was related to self-rated alexithymia or autistic traits. We also assessed self-reported interoceptive ability, and the relationship between subjective and actual performance.
Heartbeat tracking task performance was not found to be altered in the AN group compared to the HC group. However, confidence ratings in task performance in the AN group were lower compared to the HC group. Unlike the HC group, confidence ratings in the AN group did not correlate with task performance. Within the AN group there was no relationship between interoceptive accuracy, alexithymia, and autistic traits, after controlling for the potential confounders of anxiety and depression. There was a relationship between confidence ratings and illness severity in the AN group.
The results found no differences between heartbeat tracking task performance in people with AN compared to HC. There was no association between task performance, alexithymia and autistic traits in AN. Results do suggest that people with AN exhibit lowered confidence in their task performance, and that they may lack insight into this performance compared to HC. The findings are discussed in the context of potential significant limitations of the heartbeat tracking task, with recommendations for future research into interoception in AN.
以往关于使用心跳追踪任务研究神经性厌食症（AN）患者的内感受是否改变的研究结果并不一致。然而，此前尚无研究探讨AN患者的内感受是否与述情障碍及孤独症特质相关，而这两种情况在该人群中更为普遍，且被认为与该任务的表现有关。本研究的目的是探讨AN患者内感受改变是否与述情障碍及孤独症特质相关。
我们使用心跳追踪任务评估了37名AN患者以及37名年龄和性别匹配的健康对照者（HC）的内感受准确性，并在AN组内探讨内感受准确性是否与自评述情障碍或孤独症特质相关。我们还评估了自我报告的内感受能力，以及主观表现与实际表现之间的关系。
与HC组相比，未发现AN组的心跳追踪任务表现有改变。然而，与HC组相比，AN组对任务表现的信心评分较低。与HC组不同，AN组的信心评分与任务表现不相关。在控制焦虑和抑郁等潜在混杂因素后，AN组内的内感受准确性、述情障碍和孤独症特质之间没有关系。AN组的信心评分与疾病严重程度之间存在关系。
结果发现，与HC相比，AN患者在心跳追踪任务表现上没有差异。AN患者的任务表现、述情障碍和孤独症特质之间没有关联。结果确实表明，AN患者对其任务表现的信心较低，与HC相比，他们可能对这种表现缺乏洞察力。在讨论心跳追踪任务潜在重大局限性的背景下对研究结果进行了讨论，并对未来AN内感受研究提出了建议。
