The Interoceptive Mind ― From Homeostasis to Awareness

Interoception is the body-to-brain axis of sensations that originates from the internal body and visceral organs. It plays a unique role in ensuring homeostasis, allowing human beings to experience and perceive the state of their bodies at any one time.

However, interoception is rapidly gaining interest amongst those studying the human mind. It is believed that beyond homeostasis interoception is fundamental in understanding human emotion and motivation and their impact upon behavior. That link between interoception and self-awareness is supported by a growing body of experimental findings.

The Interoceptive Mind: From Homeostasis to Awareness offers a state-of-the-art overview of, and insights into, the role of interoception for mental life, awareness, subjectivity, affect, and cognition. Structured across three parts, this multidisciplinary volume highlights the role that interoceptive signals, and our awareness of them, play in our mental life. It considers deficits in interoceptive processing and awareness in various mental health conditions. But it also considers the equally important role of interoception for well-being, approaching interoception from both a theoretical and a philosophical perspective.

Written by leading experts in their fields, all chapters within this volume share a common concern for what it means to experience oneself, for the crucial role of emotions, and for issues of health and wellbeing. Each of those concerns is discussed on the joint basis of our bodily existence and interoception. The research presented here will undoubtedly accelerate the much-anticipated coming of age of interoceptive research in psychology, cognitive neurosciences and philosophy, making this vital reading for anyone working in those fields.

Manos Tsakiris studied psychology and philosophy before completing his PhD (2006) in psychology and cognitive neurosciences at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL. In 2007 he joined the Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, where he is currently Professor of Psychology. His research is highly interdisciplinary and uses a wide range of methods to investigate the neurocognitive mechanisms that shape the experience of embodiment and self-identity.
He is the recipient of the Young Mind and Brain Prize in 2014, of the 22nd Experimental Psychology Society Prize in 2015, and the NOMIS Foundation Distinguished Scientist Award in 2016.

Helena De Preester studied at Ghent University and Universite Libre de Bruxelles before completing her PhD in philosophy at Ghent University. Previous research focused on subjectivity and embodiment, and on the tensions between transcendentalism and naturalism from the viewpoint of phenomenology and cognitive science. Her recent research focuses on body and subject in philosophy of technology. She is currently professor of Philosophy at the School of Arts, University College Ghent, and visiting research professor at the department of Philosophy and Moral Science, Ghent University.