Short-term food deprivation increases amplitudes of heartbeat-evoked potentials

Nutritional state, i.e. fasting or non-fasting, may affect the processing of interoceptive
signals, but mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. We investigated 16 healthy
women on two separate days: when satiated (standardized food intake) and after an 18 h food
deprivation period. On both days, heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs) and cardiac and ANS
activation indices (heart rate, nLF HRV) were assessed. The HEP is an EEG pattern that is
considered an index of cortical representation of afferent cardiovascular signals. Average
HEP activity (R-wave +455-595 ms) was enhanced during food deprivation compared to
normal food intake. Cardiac activation did not differ between nutritional conditions. Our
results indicate that short-term food deprivation amplifies an electrophysiological correlate of
the cortical representation of visceral-afferent signals originating from the cardiovascular
system. This effect could not be attributed to increased cardiac activation, as estimated by
heart rate and nLF HRV, after food deprivation.