CIP · Categorical Interoception Project: How generalization and classification strategies link anxiety and interoception
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-04-01 → 2018-03-31
- EU contribution
- €172,800
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
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Results in brief
Categorical Interoception Project: How generalization and classification strategies link anxiety and interoception
Nothing is closer to us than our body, but few things are as elusive as the perception of bodily sensations. Research and general medical practice provide ample evidence that there is often a (seemingly) puzzling disconnect between sensation individuals report and physiological processes measured by diagnostic means. Correlations between self-reported bodily sensations and physiological changes are usually low in healthy individuals and patients with a somatic disease. Research consistently reports that negative affect is related to stronger nocebo effects, higher levels of symptom report and catastrophizing interpretations. Inadequate perception and interpretation of bodily sensations impacts coping behaviour and, in the long term, physical health and mental well-being. This project tested whether categorisation, as a fundamental perceptual process, links anxiety and interoception via the choice of perceptual decision strategies and via processes of within-category generalisation. We suggest that in somatic decision-making, the brain continuously bundles the flow of interoceptive information into distinct categories such as “pain” or “pleasure”. By assigning sensations to interoceptive categories, it is possible to infer hidden information about causes and consequences and apply coping schemata fast and efficiently. If we know, for example, that we suffer from an allergy and not from a cold, we can infer causes and consequences, take measures to reduce symptom burden, and we can estimate a timeline from our symptoms. Misclassification can lead to wrong conclusions and suboptimal coping strategies such as taking medication that is either not helpful or harmful. Another example of misclassification would be failing to identify symptoms of a stroke, causing a delay in medical intervention with potentially fatal consequences. The project is of theoretical relevance by targeting fundamental processes linking anxiety and interoception such as classification strategies and excessive intra-category generalisation. Identifying these links is relevant to understand misclassification of bodily sensations, for example in patients with medically unexplained symptoms, but also in patients misclassifying sensations that are the result of pathological processes.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Bias in the perception of bodily sensations (interoception) can be dangerous or even fatal; for example, if we do not recognize signs of a stroke or take medication anytime we feel the slightest change in our body. Research consistently reports that anxiety is closely related to interoception and (mis)interpretation of bodily sensations, but little is known about more fundamental processes underlying this relationship. The aim of this project is to test whether categorization as basic perceptual process links anxiety and interoception via generalization and perceptual decision strategies. Bundling the continuous flow of interoceptive information into distinct categories such as “pain” or “pleasure” can facilitate perception and coping. By assigning sensations to interoceptive categories (e.g., symptom groups) we can infer information about causes and consequences and apply coping schemata fast and efficiently. Research on visual perception, however, suggests that anxiety can be related to excessive generalization which may turn into harmful over-generalization, particularly if stimuli are misclassified. We will test whether also in interoception, anxiety is related to excessive category-related generalization. Furthermore, we will test whether individuals higher in anxiety are more prone to take a “better safe than sorry” strategy and misclassify benign sensations (e.g., heartbeat and breathlessness associated with exercise) more often as sign of disease.We will test our hypotheses of categorization linking anxiety and interoception in a newly developed research paradigm. In contrast to traditional paradigms, it allows distinguishing interoceptive accuracy and bias. The project is of theoretical relevance by targeting fundamental processes linking anxiety and interoception. Furthermore, it is of clinical relevance by testing the relationship between anxiety and interoceptive classification strategies, which are related to choices in health behaviour.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITE DU LUXEMBOURG · ESCH-SUR-ALZETTECoordinatorLuxembourg
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union