Boccia Maddalena, Teghil Alice, Raimo Simona, Di Vita Antonella, Grossi Dario, Guariglia Cecilia, Palermo Liana
Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Santa Lucia, Italy.
Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Santa Lucia, Italy.
Neuropsychologia. 2023 May 3;183:108504. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108504. Epub 2023 Feb 4.
In early studies interoception strictly referred to the awareness of visceral sensations, but recent theories have expanded this concept to denote the ongoing status of the body, including somatosensory feelings. Here, we integrated data from normal and pathological functioning to disclose neural underpinnings of interoceptive sensibility, taking into account the crucial distinction between visceral and somatosensory feelings. Twenty-seven healthy young individuals underwent structural MRI (including T1w images and DTI). Voxel-wise analyses of the gyrification index (GI) and fractional anisotropy (FA) data were performed to assess the relation between interoceptive sensibility and surface morphometry and anatomical connectivity. Thirty-three unilateral brain-damaged patients took part in this study for Voxel-Based Lesion-Symptom Mapping (VLSM) and track-wise hodological lesion-deficit analysis (TWH). All participants completed the Self-Awareness Questionnaire (SAQ), a self-report tool assessing interoceptive sensibility of visceral (F1) and somatosensory feelings (F2). Tract-Based Spatial Statistics showed that F2 was positively associated with FA in the bilateral anterior thalamic radiation, corticospinal tract, cingulum, forceps, inferior longitudinal, fronto-occipital, superior longitudinal, and uncinate fasciculi; no significant association was detected for F1. However, F1 was positively associated with GI in the left anterior cingulate cortex. VLSM showed that F1 mainly relies on the right posterior insula, whereas F2 is related mostly to subcortical nuclei and surrounding white matter in the right hemisphere. Accordingly, patients with disconnection of the anterior thalamic projection, corticospinal tract, inferior fronto-occipital, inferior longitudinal, uncinate and superior longitudinal fasciculus III showed lower scores on F2. Overall, results support the dissociation between interoceptive sensibility of visceral and somatosensory feelings.
在早期研究中，内感受严格指的是对内脏感觉的意识，但最近的理论已将这一概念扩展，以表示身体的当前状态，包括躯体感觉。在此，我们整合了正常和病理功能的数据，以揭示内感受敏感性的神经基础，同时考虑到内脏感觉和躯体感觉之间的关键区别。27名健康的年轻个体接受了结构磁共振成像（包括T1加权图像和弥散张量成像）。对脑回指数（GI）和分数各向异性（FA）数据进行体素分析，以评估内感受敏感性与表面形态学和解剖连接性之间的关系。33名单侧脑损伤患者参与了这项基于体素的损伤症状映射（VLSM）和逐径束路损伤缺陷分析（TWH）研究。所有参与者都完成了自我意识问卷（SAQ），这是一种自我报告工具，用于评估内脏（F1）和躯体感觉（F2）的内感受敏感性。基于束路的空间统计学显示，F2与双侧丘脑前辐射、皮质脊髓束、扣带束、胼胝体、下纵束、额枕束、上纵束和钩束中的FA呈正相关；未检测到F1有显著相关性。然而，F1与左侧前扣带回皮质的GI呈正相关。VLSM显示，F1主要依赖于右侧后岛叶，而F2主要与右侧半球的皮质下核团及周围白质有关。因此，丘脑前投射、皮质脊髓束、额枕下束、下纵束、钩束和上纵束III断开连接的患者在F2上得分较低。总体而言，结果支持内脏感觉和躯体感觉的内感受敏感性之间的分离。
