Elsevier

Biological Psychology

Volume 42, Issues 1–2, 5 January 1996, Pages 199-214
Biological Psychology

Special issue: Interoception and behaviour
Detection, discrimination and sensation of visceral stimuli

https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-0511(95)05155-4Get rights and content

Abstract

Afferent visceral signals serve mostly regulatory functions and produce vague, diffuse body sensations, which are not well reflected in experimental paradigms requiring distinct and localized ‘visceral perceptions’. A series of studies is summarized which compared behavioral discrimination of gastrointestinal distension stimuli with subjective sensation ratings in relation to basic perceptual operations such as detection, localization, graduation, and identification. Results showed that detection of gastrointestinal stimuli is possible without the subject's awareness (discrimination without reportable sensation). This process does not depend on stimulus intensity at volumes below those sufficient for subjective sensation. The latter is necessary, however, for intensity discrimination (graduation). Contrary to exteroception (e.g. vision), conscious subjective sensation is also required for stimulus localization. These differences in processing could not be explained by simple differences in response criteria. An intensity-dependent two-process model of gastrointestinal interoception is derived which differs from standard models of somatosensory information processing.

References (20)

  • L.-P. Erasmus et al.

    Method and apparatus for pressure-controlled distension of the lower gastrointestinal tract and simultaneous recording of electric and contractile responses

    Medical Engineering and Physics, London

    (1994)
  • G. Ádám

    Interoception and behavior

    (1967)
  • G. Ádám et al.

    Detection of colon distension in colonostomy patients

    Psychophysiology

    (1990)
  • G.von Békésy

    A new audiometer

    Acta Oto-laryngologica

    (1947)
  • R.S. Blough

    Threshold studies with tracking procedures

  • F. Cervero et al.

    Sensory innervation of the viscera

  • N. Dixon

    Preconscious processing

    (1981)
  • B. Dworkin

    Learning and physiological regulation

    (1993)
  • L.-P. Erasmus et al.

    Beeinflussung der viszeralen Sensibilität durch somatosensorische Signale. Teil 2: Summation

  • L.-P. Erasmus et al.

    Bestimmung der lokalen Diskrimination viszeraler Dehnungsreize durch adaptive, selbst-kalibrierende Prozeduren

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (40)

  • Interoceptive anxiety-related processes: Importance for understanding COVID-19 and future pandemic mental health and addictive behaviors and their comorbidity

    2022, Behaviour Research and Therapy
    Citation Excerpt :

    The act of sensing, interpreting, and integrating information about somatic states is associated with distinct components, including attention, detection, discrimination, and accuracy (Vaitl, 1996). For instance, interoceptive processes includes perceiving somatic-related stimuli in terms of their presence (Pollatos, Kirsch, & Schandry, 2005), sensitivity (Hölzl, Erasmus, & Möltner, 1996), and precision (Fealey, 2013). A large volume of research across several disciplines has indicated that interoception is integral to associative learning, stress modulation, reward learning, decision-making, emotional functioning, and cognitive control (Craig, 2003, 2008).

  • Atypical interoception as a common risk factor for psychopathology: A review

    2021, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
    Citation Excerpt :

    Beyond tasks measuring interoception from heartbeat perception, a small number of studies have used a measure of gastric distension; Whitehead and colleagues, for example, assessed participants’ ability to detect whether stomach contractions coincided with an exteroceptive light stimulus, as well as their ability to control their gastric motility, and observed a positive relationship between perception of cardiac and gastric signals (Whitehead and Drescher, 1980). Similarly, detection rates and intensity ratings of colon distension have been investigated (Hölzl et al., 1996) and Zaman et al. (2016) measured ratings of esophageal distension intensity, identifying thresholds for initial perception, discomfort and pain. The invasive nature of these tests, however, means that they have not been used extensively.

  • A multidimensional and multi-feature framework for cardiac interoception

    2020, NeuroImage
    Citation Excerpt :

    Indeed, interoception has been mainly studied through HBD tasks because heartbeats are discrete and frequent internal events that can be easily, non-invasively, and objectively measured (Garfinkel et al., 2015) and/or manipulated (Khalsa et al., 2009a). However, interoception is not limited to cardiac sensations, but also includes the monitoring of other internal signals, such as thermoceptive, nociceptive, respiratory, and gastrointestinal (GI) stimuli (Craig, 2002; Khalsa and Lapidus, 2016; Cameron, 2001; Hölzl et al., 1996; Azzalini et al., n.d.; Alfonsi et al., 2016). Based on evidence showing an overlap between cardiac and non-cardiac –particularly GI– interoceptive abilities (Herbert et al., 2012; Whitehead and Drescher, 1980), we hope our results could be extrapolated to other interoceptive modalities.

View all citing articles on Scopus
View full text