Interoception and embodiment in patients with bilateral vestibulopathy
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ORIGINAL COMMUNICATION
Interoception and embodiment in patients with bilateral vestibulopathy Estelle Nakul1 · Charles Dabard1 · Michel Toupet2,3 · Charlotte Hautefort2,4 · Christian van Nechel2,5,6,7 · Bigna Lenggenhager8 · Christophe Lopez1 Received: 13 March 2020 / Revised: 4 September 2020 / Accepted: 7 September 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract There are tight functional and anatomical links between the vestibular and interoceptive systems, and both systems have shown to fundamentally underlie emotional processes and our sense of a bodily self. Yet, nothing is known about how longterm bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP) influences interoception and its relation to embodiment and the sense of self. We thus compared cardiac interoceptive accuracy, confidence in the performance, and general body awareness in 25 BVP patients and healthy controls using a heartbeat tracking task, self-reports about interoceptive awareness, as well as measures of selflocalization and of self–body closeness. Results showed no difference between patients and controls regarding interoceptive accuracy, confidence and body awareness, suggesting that long-term BVP does not influence cardiac interoception. Patients and controls did not differ either regarding self-location and self–body closeness. However, in our overall sample of patients and controls, we found that interoceptive accuracy increased with perceived self–body closeness, suggesting that anchoring the self to the body is generally linked with better cardiac interoception. This result is in line with previous suggestions of an important contribution of interoception to the sense of embodiment. Keywords Vestibular system · Vestibular disorder · Self-consciousness · Interoception · Embodiment · Inner ear
Introduction
Bigna Lenggenhager and Christophe Lopez shared last authorship. These authors contributed equally to the present study. * Christophe Lopez christophe.lopez@univ‑amu.fr 1
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, LNSC, Marseille, France
2
IRON, Institut de Recherche en Oto-Neurologie, Paris, France
3
Centre D’Explorations Fonctionnelles Oto-Neurologiques, Paris, France
4
Service ORL, Hôpital Lariboisière, Paris, France
5
Unité Troubles de l’Équilibre et Vertiges, CHU Brugmann, Bruxelles, Belgium
6
Unité de Neuro‑Ophtalmologie, CHU Erasme, Bruxelles, Belgium
7
Clinique des Vertiges, Bruxelles, Belgium
8
Cognitive Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Vestibular disorders are typically associated with deficits in balance and eye movements control. In addition to these deficits in reflexes, higher level functions are often affected [1]. While most research has focused on spatial cognition, recent evidence in healthy participants suggests a vestibular contribution to cognitive and emotional functions, such as own-body perception, mood, empathy, and decision making [2]. In line with this, clinical studies showed that patients with mainly unilateral peripheral vestibular di
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