The body mirroring thought: The relationship between thought transitions and fluctuations in autonomic nervous activity mediated by interoception

Abstract

Our thought states change without intention. This study verified that the transition of thought states varies with fluctuations in autonomic nervous activity, and that this effect is modulated by interoceptive accuracy. The participants completed the heartbeat counting task (HCT) and vigilance task. We assessed the participants’ interoceptive accuracy based on their performance on the HCT. The vigilance task is a simple attention task, and during this task, we asked the participants to report the content and contemplation of their thoughts. Consequently, participants with accurate interoception were more likely to remain in a highly contemplative thought state when parasympathetic activity was suppressed. In contrast, the dominance of parasympathetic activity facilitated transitions to different thought states or experiences of less contemplative thought states in them. The results suggest that even subtle changes in bodily responses at rest can affect thought transitions in people with accurate interoception.