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Models of interoception, the processing of internal bodily signals, highlight infancy as a key period for interoceptive learning. Given the potential importance of this developmental period, there has been increasing focus on the measurement of cardiac interoceptive accuracy in infancy. In this paper, we argue that despite progress in this area, the current methods for assessing cardiac interoceptive accuracy in infancy suffer from many of the same limitations as tasks of cardiac interoceptive accuracy employed in adult samples. To progress work in this area, this paper critically reviews methods of cardiac interoceptive accuracy employed in adults and infants and provides several recommendations for optimizing the measurement of cardiac interoceptive accuracy in infants. These include, but are not limited to, methodological choices regarding the presentation of stimuli, the use of control tasks, the analysis strategy employed, and the importance of considering state effects.

In 2021 a new measure for the assessment of cardiac interoceptive accuracy—the Phase Adjustment Task (PAT)—was developed that overcomes several limitations of existing methods and can be administered using a smartphone application. In this report, we describe several refinements to the PAT. These include: (1) triggering tones from the detection of the heartbeat via the smartphone camera, rather than using an algorithm for predicting the occurrence of the next heartbeat; (2) technical amendments to enable implementation on iPhones with multiple cameras; (3) changes to instructions and (4) changes to the collection of confidence ratings to improve participant understanding and the utility of confidence ratings for interpretation of results; (5) the introduction of new practice trials to improve clarity; (6) changes to the analysis approach to identify cardiac phase-based heartbeat perceivers; (7) a review of the use of continuous scores; (8) a reanalysis of data comparing PAT performance in supervised laboratory settings and unsupervised remote settings using the new analysis method, and (9) the implementation of additional measures to discourage participants from checking their pulse. In this paper we outline our justification for these changes and provide details of where researchers can access the materials required for implementing the PAT and analyzing data. Finally, we provide further recommendations for implementation.

Interoceptive signals are present before birth, contributing to basic homeostatic functions and the development of complex psychological processes, such as emotional experience, learning, and decision-making. The way in which interoceptive abilities develop, however, is relatively understudied. This chapter presents research on interoceptive processing across the lifespan, from infancy to late adulthood. Accuracy perceiving interoceptive signals appears to improve throughout childhood, although more valid tasks spanning a range of interoceptive signals are required, as is research into interoceptive attention and interoceptive insight. While interoception may decrease in adolescence, direct empirical investigation of interoceptive abilities is particularly lacking during this developmental period. Investigation of interoception in later life is also sparse, but evidence suggests that both interoceptive accuracy and â€¦

Early adolescence is a critical time marked by dynamic changes in physiology, appearance and social environment. These changes are also reflected in how adolescents perceive themselves, in-cluding their bodies. The transition from pre-pubertal through pubertal stages allows us to con-sider the development of the self from the perspective of how body perception, both from within and from the outside, changes. While research in adults and post-puberty adolescents suggests that lower interoceptive accuracy is associated with greater body image concerns, how these fac-tors interact during puberty remains unknown. We tested a sample of 181 girls (aged 10-14 years), spanning from pre-puberty to post-puberty, on measures of interoceptive accuracy and behavioural and self-report measures of body image. Lower interoceptive accuracy predicted greater body image dissatisfaction. Moreover, this relationship was moderated by puberty stage, showing that the protective effect of higher interoceptive accuracy against body image dissatis-faction was stronger during more advanced stages of puberty. Our findings show that interocep-tive influences extend from the basic multisensory integration to conscious attitudes about our body during a critical developmental period, highlighting the positive role that better interocep-tion can play in mental health.