Colloquium #12 Announcement

Dear ARIA Members,

For our 12th colloquium, we are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. phil. Dr. med. Olga Pollatos, Full Professor at Ulm University, Germany, will present on “From Bodily Signals to Emotional Awareness: Interoception Across Development, Stress, and Everyday Life”, which will take place on 25 November 2026 at 4 pm CET (UTC+1).

Abstract:
‍Interoception—the perception, integration and interpretation of internal bodily signals—is fundamental to emotional experience and regulation. Despite its close links to emotional awareness and mental health, interoception has often been investigated as a relatively stable individual characteristic, predominantly under controlled laboratory conditions and with a focus on single organ systems. A broader perspective conceptualises interoception as a multidimensional and context-sensitive process shaped by social interactions, individual characteristics and changing internal and external demands.

This talk brings together developmental, ecological and experimental perspectives on interoception. First, a developmental framework highlights the role of caregiver–child interactions in shaping interoceptive development. In particular, caregivers’ interoceptive granularity, the ability to detect and differentiate subtle changes in a child’s bodily states, may facilitate sensitive co-regulation and support the development of self-regulatory capacities. Second, findings from ecological momentary assessment demonstrate the feasibility of capturing the intensity and affective evaluation of cardiac, gastric and respiratory sensations in everyday life, providing insights into inter- and intra-individual variability in subjective bodily awareness. Third, experimental findings illustrate how acute stress modulates cardiac interoceptive sensitivity and attention to bodily signals. In addition, research using the Magic Table paradigm demonstrates that stress-related changes in gastric interoception depend on individual differences in emotion regulation and eating behaviour, with reduced sensitivity to fullness particularly evident in individuals reporting greater emotion regulation difficulties and maladaptive eating traits.

Together, these findings highlight interoception as a dynamic and multifaceted process that develops within social contexts and varies according to situational demands and individual regulatory characteristics. This perspective provides a framework for understanding the interplay between bodily awareness, emotional awareness and vulnerability to psychopathology, with particular relevance to alexithymia and difficulties in emotion regulation.


If you want to participate in the colloquium, please submit your email to this form, so you get added to the email list and receive the web conference link.


Hope to see you there,

ARIA Executive Board