Background Panic disorder (PD) is associated with altered interoceptive experience, but it remains unclear how self-reported interoception relates to neurophysiological indices of bodily-signal processing. This study examined whether associations between self-reported interoception and resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) markers differ between participants with PD and healthy controls (HC). Methods This analysis included 19 PD participants and 21 HCs from a previously published resting-state EEG dataset. Self-reported interoception was assessed using the Body Perception Questionnaire-Very Short Form (BPQ-VSF) and the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA). Resting-state EEG signals were recorded during eyes-closed and eyes-open conditions. Heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEP) and relative band power (RBP) were extracted to index cardiac-related cortical processing and frequency-specific resting-state activity. Associations between self-report measures and EEG indices were examined using Pearson correlations with 95% confidence intervals, Bayes factors, and false-discovery-rate (FDR) correction across scalp regions within predefined analysis families. Age-adjusted sensitivity analyses and group × self-report interaction models were used to assess robustness and formally test group differences in association patterns. Results Compared with HCs, PD participants reported higher body-focused attention and lower scores on several adaptive interoceptive dimensions, including Not-Distracting, Not-Worrying, and Trusting. In the 235—301 ms HEP window, age-adjusted interaction models showed that BPQ-VSF HEP coupling differed between groups, especially under eyes-open conditions. Within-group analyses showed an exploratory opposite-direction BPQ-VSF HEP pattern, with positive associations in HC and negative associations in PD. The clearest FDR-corrected HEP association within panic disorder involved Not-Worrying under eyes closed. RBP analyses showed PD-concentrated <InlineEquation ID="IEq1"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\(\theta\)</EquationSource> </InlineEquation> (theta)- and <InlineEquation ID="IEq2"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\(\beta\)</EquationSource> </InlineEquation> (beta)-band association profiles. Trusting was positively associated with <InlineEquation ID="IEq3"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\(\theta\)</EquationSource> </InlineEquation> power in PD, and BPQ-VSF showed positive <InlineEquation ID="IEq4"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\(\beta\)</EquationSource> </InlineEquation>-band associations under eyes closed that remained robust after age adjustment. Not-Distracting showed negative <InlineEquation ID="IEq5"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\(\theta\)</EquationSource> </InlineEquation>-band associations in the primary correlation analyses, but these were attenuated after controlling for age. Conclusions These findings provide preliminary FDR-controlled and age-informed evidence that PD involves altered, condition- and frequency-dependent mappings between subjective bodily experience and resting-state EEG markers. The clearest formal group-difference evidence was observed for BPQ-VSF HEP coupling, whereas PD-specific associations were most robust for Not-Worrying-HEP, Trusting-<InlineEquation ID="IEq6"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\(\theta\)</EquationSource> </InlineEquation> power, and BPQ-VSF <InlineEquation ID="IEq7"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\(\beta\)</EquationSource> </InlineEquation> power. Given the modest sample size and exploratory correlational design, replication in larger samples is needed.

Associations between self-reported interoception and resting-state EEG markers in panic disorder: heartbeat-evoked potentials and spectral power

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2026年5月12日

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Ziheng Gao,
Zhiwan Xiong,
Meng Li,
Yi Chang,
Tommi Kärkkäinen,
Fengyu Cong,
Xiaoshuang Wang

摘要

Background

Panic disorder (PD) is associated with altered interoceptive experience, but it remains unclear how self-reported interoception relates to neurophysiological indices of bodily-signal processing. This study examined whether associations between self-reported interoception and resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) markers differ between participants with PD and healthy controls (HC).

Methods

This analysis included 19 PD participants and 21 HCs from a previously published resting-state EEG dataset. Self-reported interoception was assessed using the Body Perception Questionnaire-Very Short Form (BPQ-VSF) and the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA). Resting-state EEG signals were recorded during eyes-closed and eyes-open conditions. Heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEP) and relative band power (RBP) were extracted to index cardiac-related cortical processing and frequency-specific resting-state activity. Associations between self-report measures and EEG indices were examined using Pearson correlations with 95% confidence intervals, Bayes factors, and false-discovery-rate (FDR) correction across scalp regions within predefined analysis families. Age-adjusted sensitivity analyses and group × self-report interaction models were used to assess robustness and formally test group differences in association patterns.

Results

Compared with HCs, PD participants reported higher body-focused attention and lower scores on several adaptive interoceptive dimensions, including Not-Distracting, Not-Worrying, and Trusting. In the 235—301 ms HEP window, age-adjusted interaction models showed that BPQ-VSF HEP coupling differed between groups, especially under eyes-open conditions. Within-group analyses showed an exploratory opposite-direction BPQ-VSF HEP pattern, with positive associations in HC and negative associations in PD. The clearest FDR-corrected HEP association within panic disorder involved Not-Worrying under eyes closed. RBP analyses showed PD-concentrated \(\theta\) (theta)- and \(\beta\) (beta)-band association profiles. Trusting was positively associated with \(\theta\) power in PD, and BPQ-VSF showed positive \(\beta\) -band associations under eyes closed that remained robust after age adjustment. Not-Distracting showed negative \(\theta\) -band associations in the primary correlation analyses, but these were attenuated after controlling for age.

Conclusions

These findings provide preliminary FDR-controlled and age-informed evidence that PD involves altered, condition- and frequency-dependent mappings between subjective bodily experience and resting-state EEG markers. The clearest formal group-difference evidence was observed for BPQ-VSF HEP coupling, whereas PD-specific associations were most robust for Not-Worrying-HEP, Trusting- \(\theta\) power, and BPQ-VSF \(\beta\) power. Given the modest sample size and exploratory correlational design, replication in larger samples is needed.