EEG brain oscillations are modulated by interoception in response to a synchronized motor vs. cognitive task

Abstract

So far, little is known about how conscious attention to internal body signals, that is, interoception, affects the synchronization with another person, a necessary or required social process that promotes affiliations and cooperation during daily joint social interactions. The effect of explicit interoceptive attentiveness (IA) modulation, conceived as the focus on the breath for a given time interval, on electrophysiological (EEG) correlates during an interpersonal motor task compared with a cognitive synchronization task was investigated in this study. A total of 28 healthy participants performed a motor and a cognitive synchronization task during the focus and no-focus breath conditions. During the tasks, frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, and beta bands) from the frontal, temporo-central, and parieto-occipital regions of interest (ROIs) were acquired. According to the results, significantly higher delta and theta power were found in the focus condition in the frontal ROI during the execution of the motor than the cognitive synchronization task. Moreover, in the same experimental condition, delta and beta band power increased in the temporo-central ROI. The current study suggested two main patterns of frequency band modulation during the execution of a motor compared with the cognitive synchronization task while a person is focusing the attention on one's breath. This study can be considered as the first attempt to classify the different effects of interoceptive manipulation on motor and cognitive synchronization tasks using neurophysiological measures.

Keywords: EEG; cognitive task; interoceptive attentiveness; motor task; synchronization task.

Figure 1

Description of the experiment setting. (A) Description of the procedure including baseline, motor, and cognitive synchronization tasks with and without focus on the breath manipulation. (B) Experimental setup, where the researcher performs the motor synchronization task and EEG equipment is used to collect the data.

Figure 2

EEG montage. Positioning of 15 electrodes according to the 10–20 international system.

Figure 3

Results for EEG delta band. (A) Bar chart showing frontal delta mean values in the focus condition during the two synchronization tasks. (B) Bar graph displaying the significant increase in temporo-central delta values in the focus condition when performing the two synchronization tasks. (C) Red area represents greater delta power in the focus condition during the motor (left head) than the cognitive task (left head). For all charts, bars indicate ±1 standard error (SE); all asterisks mark statistically significant differences, with p ≤ 0.05.

Figure 4

EEG theta and beta band findings. (A) Bar chart showing frontal theta mean values in the focus condition during the two synchronization tasks. (B) Topographical mapping representing the theta power enhancement in the frontal regions (red area) in the focus condition during the motor compared with the cognitive synchronization task. (C) Bar graph displaying the significant increase in temporo-central beta values in the focus condition when performing the two synchronization tasks. (D) Red area represents higher beta power in the focus condition during the motor (left head) than the cognitive task (left head). For all charts, bars indicate ±1 standard error (SE); all asterisks mark statistically significant differences, with p ≤ 0.05.