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Cited by 106Psychosomatic Disorders and Their TreatmentsPhilosophy and Theoretical ScienceHeart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control

Is the cardiac monitoring function related to the self in both the default network and right anterior insula?

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Babo-Rebelo, Mariana, Wolpert, Nicolai, Adam, Claude, Hasboun, Dominique, Tallon-Baudry, Catherine·2016·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
DOI 10.1098/rstb.2016.0004PMC PMC5062094
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Abstract

The self has been proposed to be rooted in the neural monitoring of internal bodily signals and might thus involve interoceptive areas, notably the right anterior insula (rAI). However, studies on the self consistently showed the involvement of midline default network (DN) nodes, without referring to visceral monitoring. Here, we investigate this apparent discrepancy. We previously showed that neural responses to heartbeats in the DN encode two different self-dimensions, the agentive ‘I’ and the introspective ‘Me’, in a whole-brain analysis of magnetoencephalography (MEG) data. Here, we confirm and anatomically refine this result with intracranial recordings (intracranial electroencephalography, iEEG). In two patients, we show a parametric modulation of neural responses to heartbeats by the self-relatedness of thoughts, at the single trial level. A region-of-interest analysis of the insula reveals that MEG responses to heartbeats in the rAI encode the ‘I’ self-dimension. The effect in rAI was weaker than in the DN and was replicated in iEEG data in one patient out of two. We propose that a common mechanism, the neural monitoring of cardiac signals, underlies the self in both the DN and rAI. This might reconcile studies on the self highlighting the DN, with studies on interoception focusing on the insula. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Interoception beyond homeostasis: affect, cognition and mental health’.

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  • In humans, HERs are observed in somatosensory cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate/ventral precuneus, insula and frontal operculum, as well as (mostly right) parietal lobule and extrastriate visual cortices.

    “In humans HERs are observed (Figure 3) in somatosensory cortex 49,59,82,83 , ventromedial prefrontal cortex 33,83-85 and posterior cingulate/ventral precuneus 59,84-87 , insula and frontal operculum 85,88-91 , as well as (mostly right) parietal lobule 33,59,83 and extrastriate visual cortices 91 .”

    From Interoceptive rhythms in the brain (2023) · cites this paper as [85]

    The Results sections on the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and posteromedial cortex report HER findings in the left vmPFC and left ventral precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex. This supports those locations in the citing sentence, but not its attribution of a mostly right parietal-lobule finding to this paper: the posteromedial finding is explicitly left-sided. The other listed regions have separate citations in the citing sentence and are not attributed to this source. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • HERs reflect self-relatedness during mind-wandering, the strength of body ownership during bodily illusions and self-other distinction in mental imagery, and contribute to the stability of decisions based on subjective preferences.

    “HERs do reflect self-relatedness during mind-wandering 84,85 , the strength of body ownership during bodily illusions 44,86 and self-other distinction in mental imagery 87 , and contribute to the stability of decisions based on subjective preferences 83 .”

    From Interoceptive rhythms in the brain (2023) · cites this paper as [85]

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Research works printed but not linked: 27

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Authors
Babo-Rebelo, M., Wolpert, N., Adam, C., Hasboun, D., & Tallon-Baudry, C.
Affiliations
  • Inserm (FR)
  • Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (FR)
  • Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (ENS – INSERM U960), Département d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure – PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France
Corresponding author
Babo-Rebelo, Mariana
ORCID
Venue
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
2016-11-19
Volume
371
Issue
1708
Pages
20160004
ISSN
  • 0962-8436 (ISSN-L)
  • 1471-2970
DOI
10.1098/rstb.2016.0004
PMC
PMC5062094
OpenAlex
W2531441914
Cited by
106
References
14
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 2
FWCI
6.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
European Research Council (670325)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
Keywords
self, default mode network, right anterior insula, interoception, cardiac monitoring, heartbeat perception, intracranial EEG, magnetoencephalography
MeSH terms
Electrocorticography, Adult, Cerebral Cortex, Cognition, Female, Heart Rate, Humans, Male, Nerve Net, Feedback, Physiological, Young Adult, Interoception

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