Cited by 137Psychosomatic Disorders and Their TreatmentsHeart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlAging and Gerontology Research

Direct and indirect effects of age on interoceptive accuracy and awareness across the adult lifespan

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Murphy, Jennifer, Geary, Hayley, Millgate, Edward, Catmur, Caroline, Bird, Geoffrey·2018·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

Abstract

Various aspects of physical and mental health have been linked to an individual's ability to perceive the physical condition of their body ('interoception'). In addition, numerous studies have demonstrated a role for interoception in higher-order cognitive abilities such as decision-making and emotion processing. The importance of interoception for health and typical cognitive functioning has prompted interest in how interoception varies over the lifespan. However, few studies have investigated interoception into older adulthood, and no studies account for the set of physiological changes that may influence task performance. The present study examined interoception from young to very late adulthood (until 90 years of age) utilising a self-report measure of interoception (Study One) and an objective measure of cardiac interoception (Study Two). Across both studies, interoception decreased with age, and changes in interoceptive accuracy were observed which were not explained by accompanying physiological changes. In addition to a direct effect of age on interoception, an indirect effect of ageing on cardiac interoceptive accuracy mediated by body mass index (BMI) was found, such that ageing was associated with increased BMI which was, in turn, associated with reduced interoceptive accuracy. Such findings support and extend previous research demonstrating interoceptive decline with advancing age, and highlight the importance of assessing whether decreasing interoceptive ability is responsible for some aspects of age-related ill-health and cognitive impairment.

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  • Atypical interoception may represent a common vulnerability factor for psychopathology.

    “we have previously proposed that interoceptive atypicalities may represent a common vulnerability factor for psychopathology (Brewer and Bird, 2019; Brewer et al., 2016a; Murphy, Geary, et al., 2017).”

    From Atypical interoception as a common risk factor for psychopathology: A review (2021) · cites this paper as Murphy, Geary, et al., 2017

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Authors
Murphy, J., Geary, H., Millgate, E., Catmur, C., & Bird, G.
Affiliations
King's College London (GB)
Corresponding author
Murphy, Jennifer
Venue
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
Published
2017-07-06
Volume
25
Issue
3
Pages
1193-1202
ISSN
  • 1069-9384 (ISSN-L)
  • 1531-5320
OpenAlex
W2733981984
Cited by
137
References
89
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2
FWCI
6.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
King's College London
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
Keywords
interoception, interoceptive accuracy, interoceptive awareness, aging, old age, lifespan development, cardiac interoception, body mass index, physiological changes, age-related cognitive decline
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Awareness, Female, Humans, Human Development, Male, Middle Aged, Body Mass Index, Young Adult, Interoception

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