Philosophy | Consciousness

Exploring the Enigma Of Interoception, The Elusive Sixth Sense That Connects The Mind and Body.

Our physical reactions to the external environment occur before our conscious awareness. How do internal cues, like an accelerated heartbeat or profound respiration, influence our cognitive processes?

Reflections On A Life
The Quantified World
4 min readJun 5, 2024

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This article explores the main discoveries about interoception, which show how this sixth sense influences our feelings, choices, and identity. It will also cover how issues with interoception play a role in the development of mental health issues like depression and eating disorders.

More effective treatments for these diseases and improvements to health may be uncovered as our knowledge of interoception grows.

Interoception—the ability to perceive our body's signals—affects how we feel, behave, and form our identities. The insular cortex is an integral part of processing interoceptive signals.

Depression and eating disorders are among the mental health conditions linked to impaired interoception. Mood instability and skewed feelings of fullness and hunger can result from these people’s inability to properly…

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Reflections On A Life
The Quantified World

Reader, thinker, writer, lover of the blues, and jazz. Retired commercial photographer