Exploring three levels of interoception in people with functional motor disorders, 2021, Riccardia, Edwards et al

Abstract

Introduction
A three-level model of interoception has recently been defined. We aim to study the interoceptive processing in individuals with functional motor disorder (FMD).

Methods
Twenty-two patients with FMD were compared to 23 healthy controls. They underwent a protocol measuring different levels of interoception including: accuracy (a heart-beat tracking task), awareness (participant's confidence level) and sensibility (the Body Awareness Questionnaire-BAQ). Depression, anxiety and alexithymia were assessed by means of validated clinical scales.

Results
The FMD group showed a lower cardiac interoceptive accuracy and sensibility than healthy controls but they did not differ in terms of awareness (p = 0.03 and 0.005 respectively). They were aware of their poor performance in the accuracy task. Cardiac interoceptive accuracy positively correlated with the BAQ sub-scales “Predict Body Reaction” (r = 0.49, p = 0.001) and “Sleep-Wake Cycle” (r = 0.52, p < 0.001). A mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect of group on cardiac interoceptive accuracy through BAQ “Predict Body Reaction” (b = −2.95, 95% BCa CI[-7.2;-0.2]). The direct effect of group on “Predict Body Reaction” was still significant (b = − 6.95, p = 0.02, 95% CI[-13.18;-0.73]).

Conclusions
People with FMD have impaired cardiac interoceptive accuracy and sensibility but no difference in metacognitive interoception compared to healthy controls.

Paywall, https://www.prd-journal.com/article/S1353-8020(21)00122-X/fulltext

 

See also:

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.575574/full

 

My head spins when I try to understand this sort of thing, but are they saying people with FND are not good at telling how fast their heart rate is?

 

Yes.

 

But do they melt if dunked in water?

Asking important questions.