The impact of a brief mindfulness training on interoception: A randomized controlled trial, 2022, de Lima-Araujo et al

The impact of a brief mindfulness training on interoception: A randomized controlled trial
Geissy Lainny de Lima-Araujo, Geovan Menezes de Sousa Júnior, Thatiane Mendes, Marcelo Demarzo, Norman Farb, Draulio Barros de Araujo, Maria Bernardete Cordeiro de Sousa

Abstract
Interoception is a collection of different representations of signals originating within the body. The way of perceiving these signals seems to be related to both emotion regulation and dysregulation, and its dysfunction is implicated across a variety of affective disorders.

There is a growing body of research investigating the relationship between mindfulness meditation practices and interoception showing an increase in interoceptive processes with regular training.

In this study, we assessed the effects of a three-day mindfulness training on interoceptive accuracy and sensibility in a young healthy adult sample. Moreover, we also performed a mediation analysis on interoceptive sensibility and anxiety.

Healthy participants (n = 40) naive to mindfulness practices were randomized to a brief mindfulness training (MT) (n = 20, females = 10) or to an active control group (n = 20, females = 10).

Participants were assessed before and after the 3-days intervention for both groups on measures of interoception and anxiety in a modified intention-to-treat approach.

The brief mindfulness training group increased interoceptive sensibility while active control had no effects on this variable. Five out of eight subdomains of interoceptive sensibility were significantly improved after mindfulness training.

There was no significant difference in interoceptive accuracy after training. The effect of a brief mindfulness training on interoceptive sensibility mediated changes in the anxiety state. To date, this is the first study showing a plausible mechanism of a brief mindfulness training to explain the anxiolytic effects of meditation practices.

Full article: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0273864

 

Relevant to some FND research. Shows interoceptive awareness can be learned

 

Seems to be the TL;DR: after a brief relaxation, patients answer questionnaires about how relaxed they are but do no better at sensing their heart beat. I have no idea why sensing one's heart beat is supposed to be significant, it probably differs a lot based on individual physiology.

Having found no benefit, they basically report that 30 minutes of relaxation is relaxing. Stellar work, major important scientific breakthrough, and whatnot.

 

Actually, nah, not even anything to do with detecting heart beat, it's just another arbitrary questionnaire. Solid pseudoscience.

All the stuff about meditation is some of my favorite in this quackery. Ideologues will point to Buddhist monks able to increase their body temperature or lower their heart beat. After decades of practice. And after intense sessions sometimes lasting several hours during which they are essentially non-responsive. And the very best they can point at about the magical powers of the mind is: higher temperature and lower heart beat.

And out of this comes the belief that "the mind", separate from the brain, can invent every possible symptom, even disabling people for life, because the mind is just that powerful. I guess ordinary people with no training are just that much better at affecting their physiology than people who dedicated their whole lives to it and have little else to show than high body temperature and low heart rates.

Truly the last great belief system.

 

Simon Wessley says that we are too aware of bodily symptoms like heart rate so we imagine that means we are sick. Well I think so he actually says we "interpret normal body sensations as abnormal"

Improving how much we are aware of bodily sensations makes it more likely that we will be accused of too much introspection. Either way ME will not be considered a genuine disease but a moral failure.