The Conceptualization and Measurement of Interoception

This chapter seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of past and present definitions, measures, and dimensions of interoception to facilitate understanding of the following chapters of this book. We first review past and contemporary definitions of interoception and discuss their respective strengths and limitations. Then, we differentiate the concept of interoception from neighboring concepts. Once the meaning of the construct is clarified, we identify and discuss various conceptualizations of its underlying dimensions. We also briefly discuss frequent measures of interoception—covering physiological, behavioral, and neural measures.