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Sex differences in interoceptive accuracy: A meta-analysis

Prentice, F; Murphy, J; (2022) Sex differences in interoceptive accuracy: A meta-analysis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews , 132 pp. 497-518. 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.11.030. Green open access

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Abstract

Interoceptive accuracy, the ability to correctly perceive internal signals arising from the body, is thought to be disrupted in numerous mental and physical health conditions. Whilst evidence suggests poorer interoceptive accuracy in females compared to males, raising the possibility that interoceptive differences may relate to sex differences in mental and physical health, results concerning sex differences in interoceptive accuracy are mixed. Given such ambiguity, this meta-analysis aimed to establish the presence or absence of sex differences in interoceptive accuracy across cardiac, respiratory, and gastric domains. A review of 7956 abstracts resulted in 93 eligible studies. Results demonstrated superior accuracy in males across cardiac, but not gastric, tasks, while findings on respiratory tasks were mixed. Effect sizes were consistent across cardiac tasks, but instability and/or moderate heterogeneity was observed across other domains, likely due to the small number of eligible studies. Despite such limitations, results indicate the possibility of sex differences across interoception tasks and domains. Methodological limitations concerning the influence of physiological factors, and directions for future research are discussed.

Type: Article
Title: Sex differences in interoceptive accuracy: A meta-analysis
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.11.030
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.11.030
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: interoceptive accuracy, cardiac interoception, respiratory interoception, gastric interoception, sex differences, meta-analysis
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10139739
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