Linking heartbeats with the cortical network dynamics involved in self-social touch distinction

Abstract

Research on interoception has revealed the role of heartbeats in shaping our perceptual awareness and embodying a first-person perspective. These heartbeat dynamics exhibit distinct responses to various types of affective touch. We advanced that those dynamics are directly associated to the brain activity that allow self-other distinction. In our study encompassing self and social affective touch, we employed a method to quantify the distinct couplings of temporal patterns in cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic activities with brain connectivity. Our findings revealed that social touch led to an increase in the coupling between specific brain networks and parasympathetic/vagal activity, particularly in the alpha, beta, and gamma bands. Conversely, as social touch progressed, we observed a decrease in the coupling between brain networks and sympathetic dynamics across a broad frequency range. These results show how heartbeat dynamics are intertwined with brain organization and provide fresh evidence on the neurophysiological mechanisms of affective touch.