EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE AND HEARTBEAT PERCEPTION IN PATIENTS WITH SPINAL-CORD INJURY AND CONTROL SUBJECTS

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between cardioafferent information processing and emotionality. Thirteen patients with spinal cord injuries and seventeen control subjects performed a heartbeat perception task and filled out two questionnaires on emotionality. Subjects with spinal cord injuries showed reduced heartbeat perception and reported less emotional experience than controls. Furthermore, significant positive correlations were found between heartbeat perception and the emotionality scores, suggesting that more intense emotional experience is associated with higher cardiac awareness. These findings underline the importance of the feedback of physiological activity in emotional experience.