Knowing by heart: Visceral feedback shapes recognition memory judgments.
Abstract
Although theories of emotion have long noted the importance of afferent feedback from the autonomic nervous system in generating feelings, there is a growing appreciation that this feedback may also play a role in shaping cognitive experiences. At present, little is known about its functional role in memory judgments. In the current study, we examined whether afferent cardiovascular feedback shapes recognition-memory decisions and experiences when previously encountered faces are being discriminated from novel ones. To investigate this possibility, we capitalized on the natural variation in baroreceptor mediated cardiovascular feedback that is associated with the cardiac cycle, synchronizing the brief presentation of memory probes during retrieval with individual heartbeats. In Experiments 1 and 2, we found that faces presented during cardiac systole (i.e., when visceral feedback is maximal) were more likely endorsed as "old" than those presented during cardiac diastole (i.e., when afferent feedback is minimal). This pattern was present for targets and lures, and held for faces with fearful or neutral expressions. Combining this manipulation with a remember/know procedure, Experiment 3 showed that the influence of afferent cardiovascular feedback is specific to trials on which participants report a feeling of familiarity without successful recollection of pertinent contextual detail. By revealing an influence of baroreceptor mediated cardiovascular feedback on familiarity, th…
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Other background beliefs may be more innate and furnished by evolution, such as associations between interoceptive states and confidence.
“Other background beliefs may be more innate and furnished by evolution, such as associations between interoceptive states and confidence (Allen et al. 2016, Fiacconi et al. 2016).”
From Metacognition and Confidence: A Review and Synthesis (2024) · cites this paper as Fiacconi et al. 2016
Interoceptive factors influence confidence judgments even if they are irrelevant to the decision at hand.
“Other work indicates that interoceptive factors influence confidence judgments even if they are irrelevant to the decision at hand (Fiacconi et al. 2016).”
From Metacognition and Confidence: A Review and Synthesis (2024) · cites this paper as Fiacconi et al. 2016
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“…understanding of pertinent afferent pathways, and the representation of visceral information in the human brain, as well as by the development of theoretical models that elaborate on the role of visceral signals in feeling states (Craig, 2009; Critchley & Harrison, 2013; Damasio & Carvalho, 2013).”
An Interoceptive Predictive Coding Model of Conscious Presence
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Interoception and psychopathology: A developmental neuroscience perspective
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“Other work indicates that interoceptive factors influence confidence judgments even if they are irrelevant to the decision at hand (Fiacconi et al., 2016).”
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- Authors
- Fiacconi, C. M., Peter, E. L., Owais, S., & Köhler, S.
- Affiliations
- Western University (CA)
- Queen's University (CA)
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
- Published
- 2016-05
- Volume
- 145
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 559-572
- ISSN
- 0096-3445 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-2222
- OpenAlex
- W2319811303
- Cited by
- 54
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 4.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Psychology General (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Scholarship@Western (Western University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
- Alzheimer Society London and Middlesex
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Keywords
- recognition memory, afferent feedback, cardiac cycle, familiarity, recollection, remember/know procedure, face recognition (cognition), autonomic nervous system, memory judgments
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Electrocardiography, Face, Female, Heart, Humans, Judgment, Male, Mental Recall, Students, Recognition, Psychology, Feedback, Physiological, Young Adult
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