Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Panama City Campus, Panama City, FL, USA.
School of Sport, Exercise & Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Psychophysiology. 2021 Jun;58(6):e13817. doi: 10.1111/psyp.13817. Epub 2021 Mar 26.
The ability to detect heartbeat sensations is the most common basis for inferring individual differences in sensitivity to the interoceptive stimuli generated by the visceral activity. While the sensory sources of heartbeat sensations have yet to be identified, there is a growing consensus that visceral sensation, in general, is supported not only by the interoceptive system but also by the somatosensory system, and even by exteroception. The current experiment sought evidence on this issue by exploring the effects of masking the functions of somatosensory Pacinian and non-Pacinian mechanoreceptors on the ability to detect heartbeat sensations. Twelve verified heartbeat detectors completed a multi-session experiment in which they judged heartbeat-tone and light-tone simultaneity under two vibrotactile masking conditions involving the stimulation of the sternum: (a) using 250 Hz vibrotactile stimuli to mask the Pacinian channel, and (b) using 6 Hz vibrotactile stimuli to mask the non-Pacinian channel. A no-vibration control condition in which no masking stimuli were presented was also implemented. Presentation of both the 250 Hz and the 6 Hz masking stimuli impaired the ability to judge the simultaneity of heartbeats and tones but did not influence the ability to judge the simultaneity of stimuli presented to different exteroceptive modalities (lights and tones). Our findings reinforce the view that the somatosensory system is involved in cardioception and support the conclusion that both Pacinian and non-Pacinian somatosensory mechanoreceptors are implicated in heartbeat detection.
检测心跳感觉的能力是推断个体对内脏活动产生的内感受刺激敏感性差异的最常见基础。虽然心跳感觉的感觉来源尚未确定，但越来越多的共识认为，一般来说，内脏感觉不仅由内感受系统支持，也由躯体感觉系统支持，甚至由外感受支持。当前实验通过探索掩蔽躯体感觉Pacinian 和非 Pacinian 机械感受器功能对检测心跳感觉能力的影响来寻求这一问题的证据。12 名经证实的心跳探测器完成了一个多会话实验，在两个涉及胸骨刺激的振动掩蔽条件下判断心跳音和光音的同时性：(a) 使用 250 Hz 振动刺激掩蔽 Pacinian 通道，和 (b) 使用 6 Hz 振动刺激掩蔽非 Pacinian 通道。还实施了一个没有振动刺激的无掩蔽控制条件。呈现这两种 250 Hz 和 6 Hz 的掩蔽刺激都会损害判断心跳和声音同时性的能力，但不会影响判断不同外感受模态（光和声音）呈现的刺激同时性的能力。我们的发现加强了躯体感觉系统参与心感知的观点，并支持 Pacinian 和非 Pacinian 躯体感觉机械感受器都与心跳检测有关的结论。
