Links among emotional awareness, somatic awareness and autonomic homeostatic processing

Summary & key facts

This review looks at research on emotional awareness, awareness of bodily signals (interoception), and the body's autonomic homeostatic processes. The authors say limbic brain systems link these processes, that measures of autonomic activity and stress reactivity relate to both kinds of awareness, and that problems in autonomic function may be tied to reduced emotional and somatic awareness. They note evidence that bodily awareness may be more basic than emotional awareness and call for studies combining brain imaging with measures of peripheral autonomic function.

Key facts:

• Emotional awareness and somatic interoceptive awareness are described as important processes for human psychosomatic health.
• A lack of emotional awareness is called alexithymia; a lack of somatic (bodily) awareness is called alexisomia.
• The review identifies limbic-related subcortical brain systems as the main neural substrates for emotional awareness, somatic awareness, and autonomic homeostatic functions.
• Multiple studies report that autonomic activity and reactivity to stress are correlated with both emotional awareness and interoceptive (bodily) awareness.
• The authors propose a hypothesis that autonomic dysfunction — especially higher baseline sympathetic tone and/or reduced reactivity or variability to stress — appears to be involved in disturbances of emotional and interoceptive awareness.
• Several studies suggest a link between emotional and somatic awareness and that somatic (bodily) awareness may be more fundamental than emotional awareness; these processes often occur in parallel or at the same time.
• The paper recommends further research using both neuroimaging and measurements of peripheral autonomic function to better explore how awareness and bodily states are related.

Abstract

Emotional awareness and somatic interoceptive awareness are essential processes for human psychosomatic health. A typical trait of lacking emotional awaren

Topics

Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Mental Health and Psychiatry Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Psychiatry and Mental health

Tags

Cognitive psychology Psychiatry Psychology Psychosomatic medicine