Cardiac modulation of startle is altered in depersonalization-/derealization disorder: evidence for impaired brainstem representation of baro-afferent neural traffic

in Psychiatry Research (2016), 240(1), 4-10

Patients with depersonalization-/derealization disorder (DPD) show altered heartbeat-evoked brain potentials, which are considered psychophysiological indicators of cortical representation of visceral ... [more ▼]

Patients with depersonalization-/derealization disorder (DPD) show altered heartbeat-evoked brain potentials, which are considered psychophysiological indicators of cortical representation of visceral-afferent neural signals. The aim of the current investigation was to clarify whether the impaired CNS representation of visceral-afferent neural signals in DPD is restricted to the cortical level or is also present in sub-cortical structures. We used cardiac modulation of startle (CMS) to assess baro-afferent signal transmission at brainstem level in 22 DPD and 23 healthy control individuals. The CMS paradigm involved acoustic startle stimuli (105 dB(A), 50 ms) elicited 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 ms after a cardiac R-wave. In healthy control individuals, we observed lower startle responses at 100 and 300 ms than at 0 and 400 ms after an R-wave. In DPD patients, no effect of the cardiac cycle on startle response magnitude was found. We conclude that the representation of visceral-afferent neural signals at brainstem level may be deficient in DPD. This effect may be due to increased peripheral sympathetic tone or to dysregulated signal processing at brainstem level. [less ▲]

Altered patterns of heartbeat-evoked potentials in depersonalization/derealization disorder: neurophysiological evidence for impaired cortical representation of bodily signals

in Psychosomatic Medicine (2015), 77(5), 506-516

OBJECTIVE: Core features of depersonalization-/derealization disorder (DPD) are emotional numbing and feelings of disembodiment. While there are several neurophysiological findings supporting subjective ... [more ▼]

OBJECTIVE: Core features of depersonalization-/derealization disorder (DPD) are emotional numbing and feelings of disembodiment. While there are several neurophysiological findings supporting subjective emotional numbing, the psychobiology of disembodiment remains unclear. METHODS: Heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs), which are considered psychophysiological indicators for the cortical representation of afferent signals originating from the cardiovascular system, were assessed in 23 patients with DPD and 24 healthy control individuals during rest and while performing a heartbeat perception task. RESULTS: Absolute HEP amplitudes did not differ between groups. Nevertheless, healthy individuals showed higher HEPs during the heartbeat perception task than during rest, while no such effect was found in DPD patients (p = .031). DPD patients had higher total levels of salivary alpha-amylase than healthy individuals (9626.6±8200.0 vs. 5344.3±3745.8 kUmin/l; p = .029), but there were no group differences in cardiovascular measures (heart rate: 76.2±10.1 vs. 74.3 ±7.5 bpm, p = .60; nLF HRV: .63±.15 vs. .56 ±.15 n.u., p = .099; LF/HF ratio: 249.3±242.7 vs. 164.8 ±108.8, p = .10), salivary cortisol (57.5±46.7 vs. 55.1±43.6 nmolmin/l, p = .86) or cortisone levels (593.2±260.3 vs. 543.8±257.1 nmolmin/l, p = .52). CONCLUSION: These results suggest altered cortical representation of afferent signals originating from the cardiovascular system in DPD patients, which may be associated with higher sympathetic tone. These findings may reflect difficulties of DPD patients to attend to their actual bodily experiences. [less ▲]

Neurophysiologische Evidenz für eine veränderte ZNS-Repräsentation afferenter Signale aus dem kardiovaskulären System bei Depersonalisations-/Derealisationsstörung

in Abstractband Tradition und Aufbruch - 32. Symposium der Fachgruppe Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie der DGPs (2014)

Patienten mit Depersonalisations-/Derealisationsstörung (DP/DR) berichten häufig von einer Distanzierung der Wahrnehmung des eigenen Körpers sowie Empfindun-gen, die möglicherweise eng mit Körperprozessen ... [more ▼]

Patienten mit Depersonalisations-/Derealisationsstörung (DP/DR) berichten häufig von einer Distanzierung der Wahrnehmung des eigenen Körpers sowie Empfindun-gen, die möglicherweise eng mit Körperprozessen zu-sammenhängen, wie Emotionen. Während es zahlreiche neurophysiologische Belege für ein verändertes Erleben bei DP/DR gibt, existieren bislang keine derartigen Be-funde für eine veränderte Wahrnehmung des eigenen Körpers. Bei 23 Patienten mit DP/DR und 24 gesunden Kontroll-probanden wurden Herzschlag-evozierte Hirnpotenziale (HEPs) mittels EEG und EKG während einer fünfminü-tigen Ruhephase und während einer Herzschlagzähl-aufgabe (Schandry) gemessen. HEPs gelten als elektro-physiologischer Indikator für die kortikale Verarbeitung kardial-interozeptiver Prozesse. Außerdem wurde die Genauigkeit in dieser Herzschlagzählaufgabe und einer Herzschlagdiskriminationsaufgabe (Whitehead). Die DP/DR-Patientengruppe unterschied sich erwartungsgemäß hinsichtlich ihrer DP/DR-Symptome (CDS; S-CDS), subjektiver Wahrnehmung von Körpersignalen (KEKS), Depressivität (BDI-II) und State-/Trait-Ängstlichkeit (STAI-S;-T) von der Kontrollgruppe. Es zeigten sich keine Unterschiede hinsichtlich der Genau-igkeit in beiden Herzschlagdetektionstests zwischen den Gruppen. Die Kontrollgruppe zeigte höhere HEP-Amplituden während der Herzschlagzählaufgabe als während der Ruhephase, wie bereits mehrfach gezeigt. Im Gegensatz dazu zeigte sich dieser Unterschied in der DP/DR-Patientengruppe nicht (Interaktion: p = .03). Obwohl DP/DR-Patienten vergleichbare Genauigkeit in der Herzschlagdetektion zeigten, konnte jedoch keine Erhöhung der HEPs bei DP/DR während dieser Aufgabe gemessen werden, was auf eine dysfunktionale Reprä-sentation interozeptiver Signale auf kortikaler Ebene hinweist. Dies könnte bedeuten, dass DP/DR-Patienten die gleichen interozeptiven Signale empfangen wie Gesunde, aber diese Signale nicht adäquat in ihr Selbst integrieren können. Die Gruppenunterschiede im HEP-Pattern könnten außerdem damit zusammenhängen, dass Patienten mit DP/DR die Fokussierung der Aufmerk-samkeit auf eigene Körpersignale als aversiv wahrneh-men. [less ▲]

Striking discrepancy of anomalous body experiences with normal interoceptive accuracy in depersonalization-derealization disorder

in PLoS ONE (2014), 9(2), 89823

BACKGROUND: Disembodiment is a core feature of depersonalization disorder (DPD). Given the narratives of DPD patients about their disembodiment and emotional numbing and neurobiological findings of an ... [more ▼]

BACKGROUND: Disembodiment is a core feature of depersonalization disorder (DPD). Given the narratives of DPD patients about their disembodiment and emotional numbing and neurobiological findings of an inhibition of insular activity, DPD may be considered as a mental disorder with specific impairments of interoceptive awareness and body perception. METHODS: We investigated cardioceptive accuracy (CA) of DPD patients (n = 24) as compared to healthy controls (n = 26) with two different heartbeat detection tasks ("Schandry heartbeat counting task" and "Whitehead heartbeat discrimination task"). Self-rated clearness of body perception was measured by questionnaire. RESULTS: Contrary to our hypothesis, DPD patients performed similarly to healthy controls on the two different heartbeat detection tasks, and they had equal scores regarding their self-rated clearness of body perception. There was no correlation of the severity of "anomalous body experiences" and depersonalization with measures of interoceptive accuracy. Only among healthy controls CA in the Schandry task was positively correlated with self-rated clearness of body perception. Depersonalization was unrelated to severity of depression or anxiety, while depression and anxiety were highly correlated. Anxiety and depression did not modify the associations of depersonalization with interoceptive accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: Our main findings highlight a striking discrepancy of normal interoception with overwhelming experiences of disembodiment in DPD. This may reflect difficulties of DPD patients to integrate their visceral and bodily perceptions into a sense of their selves. This problem may be considered an important target for psychotherapeutic treatment approaches. [less ▲]