If you were to try and detect how many times your heart beats at any given moment, you may be surprised at how accurate – or not – you are.
Work led by Dr Sarah Garfinkel, Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry and Consciousness Science, Dr Lisa Quadt, Research Fellow, and Prof Hugo Critchley, Chair of Psychiatry, is investigating how the detection of internal bodily sensations, such as heartbeats, can shape intuitive decision making and emotion processing.
The BBC visited their lab at BSMS to learn more about this work.
This ability to 'listen to our bodies' is called interoception. In two short films, the BBC explore the science behind interoception – and see how the research is helping those on the autism spectrum, who can struggle with emotion processing and heightened anxiety.
To start with, Dr Garfinkel explains that we can all learn to tune into how often our heart beats – and by doing so, become more in tune with our emotions.
Watch here >
Emerging evidence shows that inaccurate detection of internal bodily sensations may also be linked to anxiety. Along with Dr Lisa Quadt, Dr Garfinkel and Prof Critchley have developed a new type of therapy to help people with Autism become more accurate at detecting their heartbeats. One of the individuals who is already benefiting from this research is Tom. In a collaboration with BBC Stories, he explained how the new therapy is helping him with his daily struggles.
Watch here >
If you have a formal diagnosis of autism and would like to learn more about the research, you can contact Dr Lisa Quadt by emailing L.Quadt@bsms.ac.uk or visit https://lisaquh.wixsite.com/adie