Interoception in Old Age

Abstract

Emotion regulation in old age was found to be more efficient; seniors seem to focus less on the negative aspects of experiences. Here, we ask, do older individuals regulate their emotions more efficiently or are they numb to the physiological changes that modulate these emotions? Interoception, the perception of physical feelings, influences a person's mood, emotions, and sense of well-being, and was hardly tested among older adults. We examined the awareness of physiological changes (physiological arousal-blood pressure and heart rate) of 47 older adults, compared to 18 young adults, and their subjective reports of emotional experiences while viewing emotional stimuli. Interoception was decreased in old age. Blood pressure medications had a partial role in this reduction. Moreover, interoception mediated emotional experience, such that low interoception led to lower experiences of changes in physiological arousal. These findings may account for the emotional changes in old age, suggesting a decline in sensitivity with age, which leads to a positive interpretation of information.

Keywords: emotional experience; interoception; old adults; physiological arousal.

Figure A1

Mean heart rate (HR), mean diastolic blood pressure (BPDIA), and mean systolic blood pressure (BPSYS) during negative and positive picture presentations as compared to the baseline, for older adults (N = 20) and young adults (N = 17).

Figure A2

Mean heart rate (HR), mean diastolic blood pressure (BPDIA), and mean systolic blood pressure (BPSYS) during negative and positive picture presentations as compared to the baseline for young adults (no use of BP medications, N = 17), and older adults (no use of BP medications, N = 9).

Figure 1

The role of interoception with different predictions following relevant theories [69,73,75].

Figure 2

Partial mediation model: BP medications as a mediator in the relationship between age and body awareness (BA) sub-scale. * p < 0.05. *** p < 0.001. BP medications variable was encoded as dummy variable (0 = no usage, 1 = use of BP medications).