The role of interoception in anxiety and the underlying neural mechanisms

Anxiety has been shown to be closely linked to higher sensitivity for bodily sensations (interoception). However, the brain mechanisms underlying the relationship between anxiety and interoception are still far from being clear. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to investigate in four thematically linked studies the brain mechanisms underlying the relationship between anxiety and interoception in healthy participants. More specifically, in the course of my PhD I would like to address the following questions: Using fMRI, study 1 investigates the neural bases mediating the relationship between interoceptive attention and anxiety level. Study 2 investigates with fMRI the neural bases underlying anxiety level and the relationship between anxiety and emotional experience. Using EEG, study 3 investigates whether anxiety is related to greater neural processing of errors, when these errors are related to interoceptive sensations. Study 4 investigates whether anxiety is related to greater neural processing of interoception-related errors when these occur in an unpredictable context.