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Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Analysis of Attention to One’s Heartbeat

From the Departments of Neurology (J.T., N.G., J.L., B.W.), Radiology (J.T., A.F., P.N.), and Radiologic Sciences (R.W.), Thomas Jefferson University/Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Joseph I. Tracy, PhD, ABPP (CN), Associate Professor of Neurology and Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University/Jefferson Medical College, 900 Walnut Street, Suite 206, Philadelphia, PA 19107. E-mail: joseph.i.tracy{at}jefferson.edu

Objectives: The convergence of a neural system for monitoring external stimuli with mechanisms that process somatic information leads to the hypothesis that the anterior parietal cortex may mediate attention to a specific internal visceral signal.

Methods: We measured regional brain activity through functional magnetic resonance imaging and directed subjects (6 men and 11 women) to attend to their own heartbeat, and to a heartbeat played on an external tape.

Results: Statistical parametric brain mapping revealed the importance of right (nondominant) parietal cortex to directing attention internally to one’s visceral state and focusing on a specific body signal.

Conclusions: The parietal activation may be taking advantage of monitoring skills typically utilized for vigilance to the external environment, in addition to working as a higher-level recognition system for signals emerging from the viscera. The finding suggests that the parietal cortex plays a central role in an interoceptive attention system that monitors bodily states.

Key Words: attention • interoceptive processing • visceral processing • somatic processing

Abbreviations: TE = echo time; TR = repetition time; FOV = field of view; hz = hertz; db = decibel; SPM = statistical parametric mapping; ROI = region of interest; BA = Brodmann’s area.