Interoception visualization relieves acute pain

• Published in: Biological psychology Vol. 169; p. 108276
• Main Authors: Gong, Wenxiao, Gu, Lijia, Wang, Wu, Chen, Lihan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-03-2022
• Subjects: Acute Pain; Bodily self-consciousness; Body Image; Hand - physiology; Humans; Illusions - physiology; Interoception; Interoception - physiology; Pain; Rubber hand illusion; Somatosensory evoked potential; Visual Perception - physiology; Bodily self-consciousness; Rubber hand illusion; Pain; Interoception; Somatosensory evoked potential
• ISSN: 0301-0511; 1873-6246
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108276

Interoception is the sensation of the physiological state inside one’s body. Growing evidence suggests that visual feedback of interoception improves body self-consciousness (BSC) and reduces pain perception among patients with chronic pain. However, whether the integration of exteroception and interoception influences pain processing in healthy individuals remains largely unknown. To examine this question, we combined the rubber hand illusion (RHI) paradigm with visualized interoception –flashing of an LED light on the rubber hand synchronously or asynchronously with participants’ real-time heartbeats. Under these conditions, we tested pain thresholds and corresponding event-related potentials. The interoceptive visual feedback inhibited the P2 component of pain, and the RHI inhibited pre-stimulus alpha-band brain activity. BSC had no significant effect on the processing of pain. These findings demonstrate that interoceptive signals with visual feedback inhibit pain processing, and that this psychophysiological process is largely independent of reported self-consciousness, in healthy individuals.
•The integration of extero- and interoception did not affect pain thresholds.•Interoceptive visualization inhibited the P2 component of pain.•Modulation of pain by interoception was independent of bodily self-consciousness.