Jenny Murphy; Exploring the Role of Interoception in Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior (Audio)

Summary

Dr Jenny Murphy is a senior lecturer at the University of Surrey. Here she discusses interoception and its importance in mental and physical health. Interoception refers to the processing of signals that come from inside the body, such as heart rate and breathing. People can differ in their ability to perceive these signals, as well as how much attention they pay to them and how they evaluate them. Interoception is associated with homeostasis and has been linked to various mental health conditions and higher-order cognitive abilities. Measurement of interoception is challenging but can be done through various tasks and self-report measures. Clinical applications include interoception training for anxiety and physical health conditions. Jenny discusses the role of perception and external cues in regulating the body, as well as the potential factors influencing interoception. She explains that her research focuses on measuring interoception and its development, and she is currently studying interoception across the menstrual cycle. Jenny also discusses the clinical implications of her work and the possible integration of interoception into therapy. She emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and the need for more research on the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Jenny mentions her upcoming textbook on interoception and concludes by offering advice on improving well-being through the understanding and regulation of interoceptive signals. She is editing a textbook on interoception at the moment that should be published by Springer, Nature at the end of the year.

Keywords

interoception, signals, perception, attention, evaluation, mental health, physical health, measurement, clinical applications, perception, external cues, regulation, body, interoception, development, menstrual cycle, clinical implications, therapy, interdisciplinary collaboration, thoughts, feelings, behavior, textbook, well-being

Takeaways

• Interoception refers to the processing of signals that come from inside the body, such as heart rate and breathing.
• People can differ in their ability to perceive these signals, as well as how much attention they pay to them and how they evaluate them.
• Interoception is associated with homeostasis and has been linked to various mental health conditions and higher-order cognitive abilities.
• Measurement of interoception is challenging but can be done through various tasks and self-report measures.
• Clinical applications of interoception include training for anxiety and physical health conditions. Perception and external cues play a role in regulating the body and compensating for imperfect interoceptive signals.
• Jenny's research focuses on measuring interoception and its development, with current studies on interoception across the menstrual cycle.
• There are limited clinical implications of interoception research at present, but it may contribute to therapies like mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral therapy.
• Interoception is an interdisciplinary field that can benefit from collaboration and integration with other areas of research.
• The relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behavior is complex and requires further investigation in the context of interoception.
• Jenny is working on a textbook on interoception that aims to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive resource for students and practitioners.
• Improving well-being through interoception involves recognizing the balance between paying attention to bodily signals and focusing on external cues.
• Publications https://www.jennymurphylab.com/publications

Bio

Jenny completed her PhD at King’s College London in December 2019. Here she investigated the measurement of interoception, it’s developmental trajectory and the relationship between interoception, health and higher order cognition. In April 2020 she took up a lectureship position at Royal Holloway University of London and in March 2024 she took up a senior lectureship position at the University of Surrey. Jenny’s work on interoception has been recognised by several awards for doctoral contributions (from the British Psychological Society, Experimental Psychology Society and King’s College London) and early career prizes (the American Psychological Society Rising Star Award and the Young Investigator Award from the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience). Jenny is particularly interested in sex differences in interoceptive abilities, including how these emerge across development and whether they relate to sex differences in mental and physical health. She currently holds a New Investigator Grant from the Medical Research Council for investigating changes in interoception across the menstrual cycle.