Blind individuals’ enhanced ability to sense their own heartbeat is related to the thickness of their occipital cortex

2024
journal article
article
dc.abstract.enBlindness is associated with heightened sensory abilities, such as improved hearing and tactile acuity. Moreover, recent evidence suggests that blind individuals are better than sighted individuals at perceiving their own heartbeat, suggesting enhanced interoceptive accuracy. Structural changes in the occipital cortex have been hypothesized as the basis of these behavioral enhancements. Indeed, several studies have shown that congenitally blind individuals have increased cortical thickness within occipital areas compared to sighted individuals, but how these structural differences relate to behavioral enhancements is unclear. This study investigated the relationship between cardiac interoceptive accuracy and cortical thickness in 23 congenitally blind individuals and 23 matched sighted controls. Our results show a significant positive correlation between performance in a heartbeat counting task and cortical thickness only in the blind group, indicating a connection between structural changes in occipital areas and blind individuals’ enhanced ability to perceive heartbeats.
dc.affiliationWydział Filozoficzny : Instytut Psychologii
dc.contributor.authorStroh, Anna-Lena - 446209
dc.contributor.authorRadziun, Dominika
dc.contributor.authorKorczyk, Maksymilian - 230400
dc.contributor.authorCrucianelli, Laura
dc.contributor.authorEhrsson, H. Henrik
dc.contributor.authorSzwed, Marcin - 213989
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-06T06:37:59Z
dc.date.available2024-09-06T06:37:59Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.date.openaccess0
dc.description.accesstimew momencie opublikowania
dc.description.number8
dc.description.versionostateczna wersja wydawcy
dc.description.volume34
dc.identifier.articleidbhae324
dc.identifier.doi10.1093/cercor/bhae324
dc.identifier.eissn1460-2199
dc.identifier.issn1047-3211
dc.identifier.urihttps://ruj.uj.edu.pl/handle/item/433779
dc.languageeng
dc.language.containereng
dc.rightsUdzielam licencji. Uznanie autorstwa 4.0 Międzynarodowa
dc.rights.licenceCC-BY
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.pl
dc.share.typeotwarte czasopismo
dc.subject.enblindness
dc.subject.encortical thickness
dc.subject.enheartbeat perception
dc.subject.eninteroception
dc.subject.enoccipital cortex
dc.subtypeArticle
dc.titleBlind individuals’ enhanced ability to sense their own heartbeat is related to the thickness of their occipital cortex
dc.title.journalCerebral Cortex
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typePublicationen
dc.abstract.en
Blindness is associated with heightened sensory abilities, such as improved hearing and tactile acuity. Moreover, recent evidence suggests that blind individuals are better than sighted individuals at perceiving their own heartbeat, suggesting enhanced interoceptive accuracy. Structural changes in the occipital cortex have been hypothesized as the basis of these behavioral enhancements. Indeed, several studies have shown that congenitally blind individuals have increased cortical thickness within occipital areas compared to sighted individuals, but how these structural differences relate to behavioral enhancements is unclear. This study investigated the relationship between cardiac interoceptive accuracy and cortical thickness in 23 congenitally blind individuals and 23 matched sighted controls. Our results show a significant positive correlation between performance in a heartbeat counting task and cortical thickness only in the blind group, indicating a connection between structural changes in occipital areas and blind individuals’ enhanced ability to perceive heartbeats.
dc.affiliation
Wydział Filozoficzny : Instytut Psychologii
dc.contributor.author
Stroh, Anna-Lena - 446209
dc.contributor.author
Radziun, Dominika
dc.contributor.author
Korczyk, Maksymilian - 230400
dc.contributor.author
Crucianelli, Laura
dc.contributor.author
Ehrsson, H. Henrik
dc.contributor.author
Szwed, Marcin - 213989
dc.date.accessioned
2024-09-06T06:37:59Z
dc.date.available
2024-09-06T06:37:59Z
dc.date.issued
2024
dc.date.openaccess
0
dc.description.accesstime
w momencie opublikowania
dc.description.number
8
dc.description.version
ostateczna wersja wydawcy
dc.description.volume
34
dc.identifier.articleid
bhae324
dc.identifier.doi
10.1093/cercor/bhae324
dc.identifier.eissn
1460-2199
dc.identifier.issn
1047-3211
dc.identifier.uri
https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/handle/item/433779
dc.language
eng
dc.language.container
eng
dc.rights
Udzielam licencji. Uznanie autorstwa 4.0 Międzynarodowa
dc.rights.licence
CC-BY
dc.rights.uri
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.pl
dc.share.type
otwarte czasopismo
dc.subject.en
blindness
dc.subject.en
cortical thickness
dc.subject.en
heartbeat perception
dc.subject.en
interoception
dc.subject.en
occipital cortex
dc.subtype
Article
dc.title
Blind individuals’ enhanced ability to sense their own heartbeat is related to the thickness of their occipital cortex
dc.title.journal
Cerebral Cortex
dc.type
JournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeen
Publication
Affiliations

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