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Articles, Behavioral/Cognitive

The Insula Mediates Access to Awareness of Visual Stimuli Presented Synchronously to the Heartbeat

Roy Salomon, Roberta Ronchi, Jonathan Dönz, Javier Bello-Ruiz, Bruno Herbelin, Remi Martet, Nathan Faivre, Karl Schaller and Olaf Blanke
Journal of Neuroscience 4 May 2016, 36 (18) 5115-5127; https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4262-15.2016
Roy Salomon
1Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and
2Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva 1202, Switzerland;
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Roberta Ronchi
1Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and
2Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva 1202, Switzerland;
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Jonathan Dönz
1Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and
2Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva 1202, Switzerland;
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Javier Bello-Ruiz
1Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and
2Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva 1202, Switzerland;
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Bruno Herbelin
1Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and
2Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva 1202, Switzerland;
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Remi Martet
1Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and
2Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva 1202, Switzerland;
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Nathan Faivre
1Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and
2Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva 1202, Switzerland;
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Karl Schaller
4Neurosurgery Division, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
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Olaf Blanke
1Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and
2Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva 1202, Switzerland;
3Department of Neurology and
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Abstract

The processing of interoceptive signals in the insular cortex is thought to underlie self-awareness. However, the influence of interoception on visual awareness and the role of the insular cortex in this process remain unclear. Here, we show in a series of experiments that the relative timing of visual stimuli with respect to the heartbeat modulates visual awareness. We used two masking techniques and show that conscious access for visual stimuli synchronous to participants' heartbeat is suppressed compared with the same stimuli presented asynchronously to their heartbeat. Two independent brain imaging experiments using high-resolution fMRI revealed that the insular cortex was sensitive to both visible and invisible cardio–visual stimulation, showing reduced activation for visual stimuli presented synchronously to the heartbeat. Our results show that interoceptive insular processing affects visual awareness, demonstrating the role of the insula in integrating interoceptive and exteroceptive signals and in the processing of conscious signals beyond self-awareness.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT There is growing evidence that interoceptive signals conveying information regarding the internal state of the body influence perception and self-awareness. The insular cortex, which receives sensory inputs from both interoceptive and exteroceptive sources, is thought to integrate these multimodal signals. This study shows that cardiac interoceptive signals modulate awareness for visual stimuli such that visual stimuli occurring at the cardiac frequency take longer to access visual awareness and are more difficult to discriminate. Two fMRI experiments show that the insular region is sensitive to this cardio–visual synchrony even when the visual stimuli are rendered invisible through interocular masking. The results indicate a perceptual and neural suppression for visual events coinciding with cardiac interoceptive signals.

  • continuous flash suppression
  • high-resolution fMRI
  • insula
  • interoception
  • visual awareness
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The Journal of Neuroscience: 36 (18)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 36, Issue 18
4 May 2016
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The Insula Mediates Access to Awareness of Visual Stimuli Presented Synchronously to the Heartbeat
Roy Salomon, Roberta Ronchi, Jonathan Dönz, Javier Bello-Ruiz, Bruno Herbelin, Remi Martet, Nathan Faivre, Karl Schaller, Olaf Blanke
Journal of Neuroscience 4 May 2016, 36 (18) 5115-5127; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4262-15.2016

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The Insula Mediates Access to Awareness of Visual Stimuli Presented Synchronously to the Heartbeat
Roy Salomon, Roberta Ronchi, Jonathan Dönz, Javier Bello-Ruiz, Bruno Herbelin, Remi Martet, Nathan Faivre, Karl Schaller, Olaf Blanke
Journal of Neuroscience 4 May 2016, 36 (18) 5115-5127; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4262-15.2016
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Keywords

  • continuous flash suppression
  • high-resolution fMRI
  • insula
  • interoception
  • visual awareness

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