Interoception and Its Interaction with Self, Other, and Emotion Processing: Implications for the Understanding of Psychosocial Deficits in Borderline Personality Disorder

Abstract

Purpose of review: We review evidence for the potential importance of interoception, i.e., the processing of signals arising from inside the body, for deficient psychosocial functioning in borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Recent findings: Evidence suggests that variability in interoception interacts with higher-order psychological functions such as self, other, and emotion processing. These domains are characteristically impaired in BPD, suggesting a likely causal role of disturbed interoception in the etiology of the disorder. The inability to identify and describe one's own emotional states represents a proxy of impaired interoception which might further mediate between the perception of inner physiological conditions and psychosocial functioning in BPD. There is preliminary evidence explaining how early life stress might adversely affect central interoceptive representation and psychosocial functioning in BPD. Based on these findings and the specific pattern of disturbances in BPD, we propose the crucial role of interoception in an integrated biobehavioral model for BPD.

Keywords: Anterior insula; Borderline personality disorder; Emotion regulation; Emotional awareness; Interoception.