PPIG: Philosophy, Psychology, and Informatics Group
Speaker: Sarah Garfinkel (University of Sussex)
Title: Hearts and Minds: Hidden impacts on emotion and cognition
Abstract: There is increasing recognition that cognitive and emotional processes are shaped by the dynamic integration of brain and body. A major channel of interoceptive information comes from the heart, where phasic signals are conveyed to the brain to indicate how fast and strong the heart is beating. This talk will detail how cardiac afferent signals can alter emotion processing and guide intuitive decision making. Moreover, this interoceptive channel is disrupted in distinct ways in first episode psychosis, schizophrenia, autism and anxiety. This talk will provide empirical examples and suggest how specific interoceptive disturbances may contribute to our understanding of distinct symptoms in these clinical conditions, including dissociation and altered affective processing. Finally, new work will be presented on interoceptive training to demonstrate enhanced interoceptive precision following targeted feedback. The discrete cardiac effects on emotion and cognition have broad relevance to clinical neuroscience, with implications for peripheral treatment targets and behavioural interventions.
Further information
We are a group of researchers from diverse backgrounds in the above-mentioned groups (and beyond) who aim to gain an interdisciplinary yet deep understanding of the threads that bind the human mind and the world. In particular, this seminar series focuses on the nature of cognition, metacognition and social cognition. We’ll be tackling questions such as, what does it mean to think? What does it mean to think about thinking? And, what does it mean to think about one’s own thinking versus thinking about the thinking of other people? Please come along!
Can I be on the mailing list and send mails to the list?
Yes, you can. Just go to mailing list.
Contact details
PPIG: Philosophy, Psychology, and Informatics Group
Room 1.20, Dugald Stewart Building, 3 Charles Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AD