Periodic Reporting for period 2 - InteroceptionAction (Unraveling the role of interoceptive abilities in aesthetic appreciation of movement)
Reporting period: 2024-09-01 to 2025-08-31
Our bodies can perform goal-directed and object-directed actions, such as tying one’s shoes or driving a car, as well as more athletic and artistic movements like dance. Movement can convey meanings and emotions fundamental to social interaction and communication while also being tied to experiences of pleasure. However, our bodies also regulate internal movements and rhythmic processes essential for survival, such as the cardiac and breathing cycles. Although internal and external movements stem from the same body, their relationship and mutual influence on aesthetic evaluation remain poorly understood. Investigating the relationship between our awareness of these internal bodily signals (i.e. interoception) and the perception and evaluation of movement provides insights into how individuals engage with and make sense of the external world. The InteroceptionAction project was structured around four main objectives:
1. Establish the foundations for knowledge transfer with the research group at Macquarie University (Australia) through behavioral and physiological (e.g. electrocardiography, ECG) studies assessing the link between interoception and the emotional and aesthetic evaluation of body and movement.
2. Investigate the time courses and neural correlates of the link between interoception and body/movement evaluation using magnetoencephalography (MEG).
3. Examine the effects of intensive short-term training aimed at enhancing interoceptive abilities and assess its impact on movement evaluation through functional neuroimaging (fMRI).
4. Facilitate knowledge transfer with the research group at Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) and disseminate results through publications and conferences.
The project successfully achieved all objectives. Behavioral, physiological, and neuroimaging studies provided converging evidence that the integration of interoceptive (cardiac) and exteroceptive (visual and sensorimotor) information shapes the affective and aesthetic evaluation of the human body and movement. The project advanced interdisciplinary research in neuroaesthetics and embodied cognition, promoting knowledge transfer between Australia and Italy and establishing methodological groundwork for future investigations into how bodily awareness and internal rhythms shape social and aesthetic experience.
1. Establish the foundations for knowledge transfer with the research group at Macquarie University (Australia) through behavioral and physiological (e.g. electrocardiography, ECG) studies assessing the link between interoception and the emotional and aesthetic evaluation of body and movement.
2. Investigate the time courses and neural correlates of the link between interoception and body/movement evaluation using magnetoencephalography (MEG).
3. Examine the effects of intensive short-term training aimed at enhancing interoceptive abilities and assess its impact on movement evaluation through functional neuroimaging (fMRI).
4. Facilitate knowledge transfer with the research group at Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) and disseminate results through publications and conferences.
The project successfully achieved all objectives. Behavioral, physiological, and neuroimaging studies provided converging evidence that the integration of interoceptive (cardiac) and exteroceptive (visual and sensorimotor) information shapes the affective and aesthetic evaluation of the human body and movement. The project advanced interdisciplinary research in neuroaesthetics and embodied cognition, promoting knowledge transfer between Australia and Italy and establishing methodological groundwork for future investigations into how bodily awareness and internal rhythms shape social and aesthetic experience.
We conducted ten studies involving more than 400 participants using behavioral, electrophysiological (ECG, MEG), and neuroimaging (fMRI) methods. Among the main achievements was the design and validation of a MEG-compatible closed-loop system that allowed modulation of stimulus presentation: images could be time-locked to specific phases of a participant’s heart cycle, and video playback speed could be modulated in real time based on the participant’s heart rate.
In psychophysiological investigations, images depicting emotional and dance postures were presented during ventricular systole and diastole using the R-peak of the cardiac cycle. Incongruence between exteroceptive (visual) and interoceptive (cardiac) information interfered with affective evaluations. The R-peak also allowed real-time synchronization of heart rate with point-light animations depicting biological and scrambled motion. Participants generally preferred synchronized biological motion when upright, despite a general preference for faster movements.
All studies included measures of cardiac interoceptive accuracy (heartbeat-counting task), psychological questionnaires, and demographic information to leverage variability in gender, expertise, sociocultural background, education, and interoceptive traits. fMRI evidence showed that observing complex movements engages visual and sensorimotor areas (AON) and regions linked to interoceptive processing (insula) and cognitive demand (precuneus), depending on visuomotor expertise. Behavioral ratings from independent evaluators clarified expertise-related effects, suggesting complementary interactions between embodied/sensorimotor and cognitive/visuospatial processes.
The MEG study, based on the closed-loop system, investigated participants observing movements that were either synchronized (same speed) or desynchronized with their own heart rate. This approach will clarify the temporal dynamics of the interplay between the AON and interoceptive network during movement observation, depending on participants’ interoceptive abilities.
The project’s objectives and results were disseminated through international conferences, invited talks, and workshops targeting both academic and non-academic audiences, including professional dancers and educators. The results were also presented in outreach events such as TEDxCremona, where the fellow was invited to give a talk on the neuroscience of dance, and are being shared through open-access publications and repositories in line with the project’s Open Science commitment.
In addition to research outcomes, the project provided substantial training and career development opportunities for the fellow, including hands-on experience in ECG, MEG, and fMRI data collection and analysis, project coordination, and collaboration across international institutions in Europe and Australia. These activities strengthened interdisciplinary expertise bridging cognitive neuroscience, social cognition, and the performing arts and consolidated an international research network that also includes collaborators in the USA and India. The fellow developed transferable skills in supervision, dissemination, and science communication. Key performance indicators include participation as an invited speaker in three international events, initial presentations of the project at three conferences, and four presentations reporting project results. The project led to one peer-reviewed publication and two manuscripts under review, as well as two outreach events. The fellowship had a strong career impact, enabling the fellow to secure a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at ETH Zurich and to initiate a BIAL Foundatio-funded project transferring and applying the methods developed in InteroceptionAction.
In psychophysiological investigations, images depicting emotional and dance postures were presented during ventricular systole and diastole using the R-peak of the cardiac cycle. Incongruence between exteroceptive (visual) and interoceptive (cardiac) information interfered with affective evaluations. The R-peak also allowed real-time synchronization of heart rate with point-light animations depicting biological and scrambled motion. Participants generally preferred synchronized biological motion when upright, despite a general preference for faster movements.
All studies included measures of cardiac interoceptive accuracy (heartbeat-counting task), psychological questionnaires, and demographic information to leverage variability in gender, expertise, sociocultural background, education, and interoceptive traits. fMRI evidence showed that observing complex movements engages visual and sensorimotor areas (AON) and regions linked to interoceptive processing (insula) and cognitive demand (precuneus), depending on visuomotor expertise. Behavioral ratings from independent evaluators clarified expertise-related effects, suggesting complementary interactions between embodied/sensorimotor and cognitive/visuospatial processes.
The MEG study, based on the closed-loop system, investigated participants observing movements that were either synchronized (same speed) or desynchronized with their own heart rate. This approach will clarify the temporal dynamics of the interplay between the AON and interoceptive network during movement observation, depending on participants’ interoceptive abilities.
The project’s objectives and results were disseminated through international conferences, invited talks, and workshops targeting both academic and non-academic audiences, including professional dancers and educators. The results were also presented in outreach events such as TEDxCremona, where the fellow was invited to give a talk on the neuroscience of dance, and are being shared through open-access publications and repositories in line with the project’s Open Science commitment.
In addition to research outcomes, the project provided substantial training and career development opportunities for the fellow, including hands-on experience in ECG, MEG, and fMRI data collection and analysis, project coordination, and collaboration across international institutions in Europe and Australia. These activities strengthened interdisciplinary expertise bridging cognitive neuroscience, social cognition, and the performing arts and consolidated an international research network that also includes collaborators in the USA and India. The fellow developed transferable skills in supervision, dissemination, and science communication. Key performance indicators include participation as an invited speaker in three international events, initial presentations of the project at three conferences, and four presentations reporting project results. The project led to one peer-reviewed publication and two manuscripts under review, as well as two outreach events. The fellowship had a strong career impact, enabling the fellow to secure a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at ETH Zurich and to initiate a BIAL Foundatio-funded project transferring and applying the methods developed in InteroceptionAction.
The InteroceptionAction project demonstrated that internal bodily signals, particularly cardiac activity, and our awareness of them (i.e. interoception), interact with visual and sensorimotor processing to shape the affective and aesthetic evaluation of human movement. These findings expand existing neurocognitive models of movement evaluation by incorporating interoceptive processes into the interplay of visual, sensorimotor, and reward systems, offering a more comprehensive account of how bodily awareness contributes to aesthetic experience.
By integrating behavioral, physiological, and neuroimaging methods, the project established a new interdisciplinary framework for studying how bodily awareness contributes to aesthetic and affective experience. The findings also bridge cognitive neuroscience and the performing arts, offering perspectives for choreographers, performers, and educators interested in enhancing bodily awareness and audience engagement.
Beyond the arts, this research lays the groundwork for clinical and educational applications, particularly in populations with atypical bodily awareness or emotion regulation. The project’s methodological innovations and open-science practices provide a robust foundation for future studies in interoception, social cognition, and neuroaesthetics.
By integrating behavioral, physiological, and neuroimaging methods, the project established a new interdisciplinary framework for studying how bodily awareness contributes to aesthetic and affective experience. The findings also bridge cognitive neuroscience and the performing arts, offering perspectives for choreographers, performers, and educators interested in enhancing bodily awareness and audience engagement.
Beyond the arts, this research lays the groundwork for clinical and educational applications, particularly in populations with atypical bodily awareness or emotion regulation. The project’s methodological innovations and open-science practices provide a robust foundation for future studies in interoception, social cognition, and neuroaesthetics.