Measuring interoception: the phase adjustment task

D. Plans, S. Ponzo, D. Morelli, M. Cairo, C. Ring, C.t. Keating, A.C. Cunningham, C. Catmur, J. Murphy, G. Bird

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

213 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Interoception, perception of one’s bodily state, has been associated with mental health and socio-emotional processes. However, several interoception tasks are of questionable validity, meaning associations between interoception and other variables require confirmation with new measures. Here we describe the novel, smartphone-based Phase Adjustment Task (PAT). Tones are presented at the participant’s heart rate, but out of phase with heartbeats. Participants adjust the phase relationship between tones and heartbeats until they are synchronous. Data from 124 participants indicates variance in performance across participants which is not affected by physiological or strategic confounds. Associations between interoception and anxiety, depression and stress were not significant. Weak associations between interoception and mental health variables may be a consequence of testing a non-clinical sample. A second study revealed PAT performance to be moderately stable over one week, consistent with state effects on interoception.
Original languageEnglish
Article number108171
Number of pages11
JournalBiological Psychology
Volume165
Early online date17 Aug 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2021

Keywords

  • Interoception
  • Phase adjustment task
  • PAT task
  • Cardioception
  • Cardiac perception
  • Mental health
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Stress
  • Heartbeat counting task
  • Heartbeat detection task
  • Empathy
  • Telemetrics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Measuring interoception: the phase adjustment task'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this