[Concepts in Sensorimotor Research]
Interoception refers to the sense of the internal state of the body. It helps us understand and feel what's going on inside our bodies, like feeling hungry, thirsty, or perceiving our heartbeat. Interoceptive awareness contributes to emotional regulation and self-awareness.
Exteroception refers to the perception of the external environment through our senses like vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. These senses help us navigate and interact with the world around us.
Research findings in autism:
Autistics often exhibit differences in sensory processing, which may include atypical interoceptive and exteroceptive perception. Findings (examples below) suggest that atypical interoceptive and exteroceptive processing may be significant factors in understanding the behavioral and sensory symptoms in individuals with autism.
- This review explores the role of oxytocin in interoception and its potential implications for autism. The authors propose that atypical interoceptive processing, potentially linked to altered oxytocin functioning, could contribute to the social and emotional difficulties experienced by autistics. (1)
- This study found that adult autistics exhibited significantly lower interoceptive awareness compared to NT adults. The authors suggest that this might be related to the difficulties in social and emotional processing seen in autism (2).
- This review discusses various neurophysiological findings in sensory processing, including exteroception, in autistics. The authors highlight that altered sensory processing may contribute to the core features of ASD, such as social communication and repetitive behaviors (3)
References
(1) Quattrocki, E., & Friston, K. (2014). Autism, oxytocin and interoception. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 47, 410-430. Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.09.012
(2) Fiene, L., & Brownlow, C. (2015). Investigating interoception and body awareness in adults with and without autism spectrum disorder. Autism Research, 8(6), 709-716. Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1486
(3) Marco, E. J., Hinkley, L. B., Hill, S. S., & Nagarajan, S. S. (2011). Sensory processing in autism: a review of neurophysiologic findings. Pediatric Research, 69(5), 48R-54R. Link: https://doi.org/10.1203/PDR.0b013e3182130c54
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