Books etc

The underlying neural substrates of interoception have been a topic of research interest from the conceptualisation of interoception. In fact, many of the (multiple) definitions of interoception have drawn upon our understanding of neural pathways and brain regions in order to distinguish interoception from other forms of perception, and discriminate between separate facets of interoception. In this chapter, we review early and contemporary research on the neural substrates of interoception. We describe the neural and humoral pathways from peripheral sensors in the body (chemoreceptors, humoral receptors, specialised mechanoreceptors and free nerve endings) to the brain, for example via cranial nerves and spinal visceral afferents projecting to the brainstem. We then summarise the limbic and cortical regions involved in interoception, such as the thalamus, anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex. We also discuss recent evidence regarding the integration of interoeptive information, and interactions between afferent and efferent signals at different points throughout the interoceptive neural networks. We end the chapter with a discussion of outstanding questions and priorities for future research.

Using interoception as a keyword, this chapter has summarized how changes in the internal physical state are encoded and how the processing of interoceptive information affects the memory of episodes and events. Interoceptive information processing is discussed frequently in the context of emotion in psychology. On the other hand, research studies and literature that have examined its relation to episodic memory are rare. However, changes in the internal physical state exist at the foundation of various concepts that have examined its relationship with memory. To understand the relationship more precisely, we focused on the following issues in this chapter: emotional arousal and bodily responses; effects of bodily responses on memory encoding; judgment related to memories and bodily response; and insular cortex and memory consolidation. Throughout the chapter, we presented the possibility that change in the physical state itself plays a role in latently supporting the encoding and recollection process.