Mindfulness, Interoception, and the Body: A Contemporary Perspective

Abstract

Mindfulness is often used as an umbrella term to characterize a large number of practices, processes, and characteristics. Critics argue that this broad definition has led to misinformation, misunderstanding, and a general lack of methodologically rigorous research. Some of the confusion surrounding mindfulness is also believed to stem from an undifferentiated use of the term mindfulness and meditation. Mindfulness and all other forms of meditation have been shown to modulate the insula, which is the primary hub for interoception. Some have argued that interoception is foundational to mindfulness and may be the primary mechanism by which one benefits from the practice. However, much like the mindfulness literature, interoception remains broadly defined often without precision and with domain-specific meanings and implications. Research demonstrates that the insula and surrounding neural circuits are believed to be responsible for a number of other functions beyond interoception including attention, awareness, and all subjective experiences, much of which has been linked to the mindfulness literature. It has been assumed that mindfulness produces these neuroplasticity and functional effects. There is evidence that mindfulness and some of its benefits may be better described as increased interoception as a result of the neuroplasticity changes in the insula, and the development of the insula and surrounding neural circuits may cultivate dispositional mindfulness. The purposes of this article are to (1) highlight that it may be more accurate to link many of the identified benefits in the mindfulness literature to interoception and its neurological correlates and (2) propose attentional style as a means to clarify some of the confusion surrounding mindfulness, interoception, and meditation. Different meditations require different attentional styles. Attention can be analogous to a focal point with each focal point providing a unique perspective. Given that all meditative techniques modulate the insula, each meditation can provide a unique perspective from which to investigate complex interoceptive signals that may be unavailable from other meditative traditions. It may prove more useful to anchor scientific findings in the concrete body as a means to investigate those rather than a set of abstract, broadly defined meditative techniques.

Co-emergence Reinforcement and Its Relevance to Interoceptive Desensitization in Mindfulness and Therapies Aiming at Transdiagnostic Efficacy

“…However, as also noted by others (e.g., Gibson, 2019 ), under the umbrella of ‘mindfulness interventions,’ the methods that patients are asked to practice can differ greatly because the original instructions from traditional Buddhist teachings, which are already diverse, have been modified to varying degrees to adapt to various mental health conditions and clinical populations (e.g., Linehan, 1993 ; Kristeller and Hallett, 1999 ; Segal et al, 2002 ; Bowen et al, 2009 ). Some of these adaptations have prioritized certain mindfulness skills (e.g., exteroceptive awareness) and deemphasized others (e.g., interoceptive awareness and equanimity) to increase congruence with the targeted symptomatology.…”

Exploratory study of how cognitive multisensory rehabilitation restores parietal operculum connectivity and improves upper limb movements in chronic stroke 

“…7 is constructed based on the multimodal integration network model of Sepulcre et al (2014a, 2014b) in healthy adults [26,27] ; on our previous work [20][21][22][23] ; and on the work of others [24,33,[40][41][42][43][44][45] . In this model, information from the primary sensory and motor cortex reaches the multimodal integration network via OP4, where sensory, motor and visual information are all converged [26,27] to form body awareness, also called body schema [24,33,[40][41][42][43][44][45] . Body awareness in this context, refers to a perceptual understanding and awareness of (i) proprioception: body position and movement sense and how those body parts are situated in peripersonal space, (ii) exteroception: visual, tactile, auditory signals locations within the peripersonal space; (iii) interoception: internal body states [24,33,[40][41][42][43][44][45] .…”

“…In this model, information from the primary sensory and motor cortex reaches the multimodal integration network via OP4, where sensory, motor and visual information are all converged [26,27] to form body awareness, also called body schema [24,33,[40][41][42][43][44][45] . Body awareness in this context, refers to a perceptual understanding and awareness of (i) proprioception: body position and movement sense and how those body parts are situated in peripersonal space, (ii) exteroception: visual, tactile, auditory signals locations within the peripersonal space; (iii) interoception: internal body states [24,33,[40][41][42][43][44][45] . Then, the information formed in the multimodal integration network is sent to the posterior PPC in which the body image is formed [38,46] .…”

What Do Meditators Do When They Meditate? Proposing a Novel Basis for Future Meditation Research

“…Some studies found significant increases in body awareness or interoception (the processing of internal bodily signals) when participants practiced body-centered techniques compared to an active control activity (Fischer et al, 2017) or other meditation techniques (Kok & Singer, 2017). Developing a greater sense of body awareness and interoception has been proposed as one of the central mechanisms of meditation and mindfulness (Cebolla et al, 2016;Farb et al, 2015;Gibson, 2019;Hölzel et al, 2011). Furthermore, the insular cortex has been reliably associated with interoceptive processes (Craig, 2003).…”