Hokkaido University · Medicine
Professor Yusuke Haruki's research lab specializes in the neural mechanisms underlying interoception—the perception and awareness of internal bodily states—focusing on how the brain represents and processes signals from different organs such as the heart and stomach. The lab investigates the roles of specific brain regions, particularly the insular cortex, in interoceptive attention, accuracy, and metacognition, using neuroimaging techniques like fMRI and real-time neurofeedback. A key focus is understanding individual differences, including gender disparities in interoceptive awareness, and the impact of modern behaviors—such as excessive smartphone use—on mind-body integration and cognitive control.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Prior neuroimaging studies have supported the idea that the human insular cortex plays an important role in processing and representing internal bodily states, also termed "interoception." According to recent theoretical studies, interoception includes several aspects such as attention and accuracy. However, there is no consensus on the laterality and location of the insula to support each aspect of interoception. Thus, we aimed to identify the anatomical insular subdivisions involved in interoc
Interoceptive awareness, an awareness of the internal body state, guides adaptive behavior by providing ongoing information on body signals, such as heart rate and energy status. However, it is still unclear how interoceptive awareness of different body organs are represented in the human brain. Hence, we directly compared the neural activations accompanying attention to cardiac (related to heartbeat) and gastric (related to stomach) sensations, which generate cardiac and gastric interoceptive a
Excessive smartphone use has been linked to negative psychological outcomes and may also be associated with cognitive impairments and disruptions in mind-body interaction, though the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated attentional bias towards marginal smartphone stimuli and its relationship with interoceptive awareness and physiological cue reactivity in healthy young adults. Fifty-eight participants completed a letter detection task with varying perceptual loads, during
Gender differences in interoceptive awareness-awareness of internal bodily signals such as heartbeat perception-have been suggested, with some findings indicating behaviourally reduced but subjectively enhanced awareness in women, though these findings are still contentious. This study aimed to comprehensively examine gender differences in three aspects of interoceptive awareness: behavioural accuracy, subjective confidence, and relationship between them (i.e., metacognition). We used a modified
Abstract Interoception, or an awareness of the internal body state, guides agents in adaptive behavior by informing them of ongoing bodily signals, such as heart rate or energy status. However, it is still unclear whether the human brain represents the differences in the subjective experience of interoception differently. Hence, we directly compared the neural activation for cardiac (awareness related to heartbeats) and gastric (awareness related to the stomach) interoception in the same populat
Real-time fMRI neurofeedback (NF) has emerged as a promising method for enabling individuals to modulate specific brain regions and, consequently, their behavioural outcomes. This study examined whether the NF targeting the right insula could improve heartbeat perception ability and influence emotional response to negatively valenced stimuli, by training participants to modulate the brain activation associated with interoceptive (heartbeat-focused) and exteroceptive (visual-focused) attention. F
Gender differences in interoceptive awareness—awareness of internal bodily signals such as heartbeat perception—have been suggested, with some findings indicating behaviourally reduced but subjectively enhanced awareness in women, though these findings are still contentious. This study aimed to comprehensively examine gender differences in three aspects of interoceptive awareness: behavioural accuracy, subjective confidence, and relationship between them (i.e., metacognition). We used a modified
Recent studies have associated interoceptive awareness, the perception of internal bodily sensations, with a predictive mechanism of perception across all sensory modalities. According to the framework, volitional attention plays a pivotal role in interoceptive awareness by prioritizing interoceptive sensations over exteroceptive ones. Consequently, it is hypothesized that the presence of irrelevant stimuli would disrupt the attentional modulation and interoceptive awareness, which remains untes
Gender differences in interoceptive awareness—awareness of internal bodily signals such as heartbeat perception—have been suggested, with some findings indicating behaviourally reduced but subjectively enhanced awareness in women, though these findings are still contentious. This study aimed to comprehensively examine gender differences in three aspects of interoceptive awareness: behavioural accuracy, subjective confidence, and relationship between them (i.e., metacognition). We used a modified
Gender differences in interoceptive awareness—awareness of internal bodily signals such as heartbeat perception—have been suggested, with some findings indicating behaviourally reduced but subjectively enhanced awareness in women, though these findings are still contentious. This study aimed to comprehensively examine gender differences in three aspects of interoceptive awareness: behavioural accuracy, subjective confidence, and relationship between them (i.e., metacognition). We used a modified
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