Interozeption und soziale Entwicklung bei Säuglingen

Wider research context/theoretical frameworkThe sensing of one’s own internal bodily states, termed interoception, has recently been implicated in social cognitive processes in human adults. Interoceptive abilities provide essential information to distinguish between self and other when trying to relate to another person. Yet, due to methodological challenges, it is currently unknown how interoceptive sensitivity develops and whether it plays a functional role for early social cognitive development. Hypotheses/research questions/objectivesThe present project explores the early development of interoception and its relationship with basic social cognitive functions in infancy. Using innovative paradigms, we will test how interoceptive sensitivity develops over the course of the first one and a half years and whether it is related to emotional mimicry, empathic concern, and implicit emotional theory of mind. Our hypothesis is that individual differences in interoceptive sensitivity stabilize over the course of the first 18 months and that infants’ interoceptive sensitivity supports the early development of social-cognitive skills requiring clear self-other distinction, such as empathic concern.Approach/methodsFirst, we will explore interoceptive sensitivity in infants using a longitudinal approach that combines eye tracking with physiological parameters, using both a heartbeat and a respiration task. Testing infants at 3, 9, and 18 months of age, we will gain insights about the developmental trajectories of interoceptive sensitivity as well as the stability of individual differences. In a second step, individual differences in interoceptive sensitivity will be related to emotional mimicry (at 9 and 18 months), and performance on paradigms measuring empathic concern, and implicit emotional perspective taking (both at 18 months).Level of originality/innovationThe project will be the first to relate interoceptive sensitivity to social cognition in infancy by bringing together a unique group of international experts and their innovative research paradigms suitable for infant research. Interoception plays a crucial role in distinguishing whether sensory input is derived from self or other and may thus be essential for early social development. Given that atypical interoception has been linked, for instance, with autism spectrum disorder, which is also marked by severe social cognitive deficits, linking individual differences in interoceptive sensitivity to variances in early social cognitive skills will have wider implications for understanding both healthy and atypical early social development.Primary researchers involvedProf. Dr. Stefanie Höhl & MSc. Markus Tünte, University of ViennaProf. Manos Tsakiris, PhD, Royal Holloway University of LondonProf. Dr. Chiara Turati, Università degli Studi di MilanoDr. Ezgi Kayhan, Universität Potsdam