Common threads: Altered interoceptive processes across affective and anxiety disorders
Martina Saltafossi, Detlef Heck, Daniel S. Kluger, Somogy Varga
Abstract
There is growing attention towards atypical brain-body interactions and interoceptive processes and their potential role in psychiatric conditions, including affective and anxiety disorders. This paper aims to synthesize recent developments in this field. We present emerging explanatory models and focus on brain-body coupling and modulations of the underlying neurocircuitry that support the concept of a continuum of affective disorders. Grounded in theoretical frameworks like peripheral theories of emotion and predictive processing, we propose that altered interoceptive processes might represent transdiagnostic mechanisms that confer common vulnerability traits across multiple disorders. A deeper understanding of the interplay between bodily states and neural processing is essential for a holistic conceptualization of mental disorders. • Synthesizes research on altered interoception as a common mechanism in affective and anxiety disorders. • Utilizes a predictive processing framwork to explain how interoceptive disruptions contribute to psychiatric conditions. • Reviews evidence on how interoceptive signals affect emotional and cognitive processing. • Discusses the potential of interoception-based interventions for treating psychiatric disorders. • Challenges traditional diagnostic boundaries by proposing that interoceptive dysfunctions span across multiple disorders.