Measuring interoception: the CARdiac Elevation Detection Task
Interoception, namely the perception of the body's internal states, has increasingly been the focus of psychiatric research, due to its hypothesised role in mental health disturbances. Nevertheless, existing tasks of interoception are often long, burdensome and require specialised equipment to be carried out, thus limiting the possibility of conducting studies in vulnerable populations. We report on the development and proof of concept testing of a novel interoceptive task, namely the CARdiac Elevation Detection (CARED) task. Participants’ heart rate is recorded by a wearable device connected to a mobile application. Notifications are sent to participants’ mobile based on an algorithm optimised to send at least 6 notifications per day at different heart rate values throughout the day, over a period of at least 4 weeks. Participants are asked to state whether their heart rate is higher than usual, rate how confident they are in their answer and provide a brief description of the activity they were involved in when the notification occurred. Data from 30 participants revealed that approximately ⅓ of the sample was classified as being interoceptive (in line with previous findings) and that participants presented overall good insight into their interoceptive abilities. Given its ease of administration and accessibility, the CARED task has the potential to be a significant asset for psychiatric and developmental research.