Interoceptive signals impact visual processing: Cardiac modulation of visual body perception.

Author: Ronchi R1, Bernasconi F2, Pfeiffer C3, Bello-Ruiz J2, Kaliuzhna M2, Blanke O4
Affiliation:
1Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Campus Biotech H4, Chemin des Mines 9, Geneva, Switzerland; Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: roberta.ronchi@epfl.ch.
2Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Campus Biotech H4, Chemin des Mines 9, Geneva, Switzerland; Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
3Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Campus Biotech H4, Chemin des Mines 9, Geneva, Switzerland; Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Laboratoire de Recherche en Neuroimagerie, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University and University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
4Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Campus Biotech H4, Chemin des Mines 9, Geneva, Switzerland; Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Neurology Division, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland.
Conference/Journal: Neuroimage.
Date published: 2017 Sep
Other: Volume ID: 158 , Pages: 176-185 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.06.064. Epub 2017 Jun 29. , Word Count: 212

Multisensory perception research has largely focused on exteroceptive signals, but recent evidence has revealed the integration of interoceptive signals with exteroceptive information. Such research revealed that heartbeat signals affect sensory (e.g., visual) processing: however, it is unknown how they impact the perception of body images. Here we linked our participants' heartbeat to visual stimuli and investigated the spatio-temporal brain dynamics of cardio-visual stimulation on the processing of human body images. We recorded visual evoked potentials with 64-channel electroencephalography while showing a body or a scrambled-body (control) that appeared at the frequency of the on-line recorded participants' heartbeat or not (not-synchronous, control). Extending earlier studies, we found a body-independent effect, with cardiac signals enhancing visual processing during two time periods (77-130 ms and 145-246 ms). Within the second (later) time-window we detected a second effect characterised by enhanced activity in parietal, temporo-occipital, inferior frontal, and right basal ganglia-insula regions, but only when non-scrambled body images were flashed synchronously with the heartbeat (208-224 ms). In conclusion, our results highlight the role of interoceptive information for the visual processing of human body pictures within a network integrating cardio-visual signals of relevance for perceptual and cognitive aspects of visual body processing.

KEYWORDS: Body processing; Cardio-visual stimulation; Interoception; Temporo-parietal cortex; Visual-evoked potentials

PMID: 28669917 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.06.064

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