Breath influences bodily self-consciousness in a female sample

Internal and external bodily signals shape bodily self-consciousness (BSC)[1], the basic feeling that one has a body (body ownership) that acts according to one’s will (body agency) and occupies a specific position (body location). Very little is known about how women integrate interoceptive and exteroceptive cues in their conscious experience of the body. Evidence shows that females are less accurate in perceiving their internal signals compared to males[2]. To address this gap, we induced a breath-based bodily illusion3 in a female population. 33 female participants (mean =24.57±3.4 years) underwent an immersive virtual reality experience in which we manipulated the appearance, breathing pattern, and perspective of a virtual body. Additionally, measures of interoceptive accuracy (performance at the Heartbeat Counting task[4] and Pneumoception task[3]) and sensibility (MAIA II questionnaire scores[5]) were collected. We ran a series of linear mixed models to assess the effects of experimental manipulations on different facets of BSC. For the sense of ownership, we found a main effect of Breath (F1,210 =5.77; p=.02), Appearance (F1,210 =4.47; p=.04) and Perspective (F1,210 =122.69; p<.0001). Regarding the sense of agency, there was a main effect of Perspective (F1,210 =7.44; p=.007) and Breath (F1,210 =14.65; p=.0002). Finally, for the sense of location, we found a main effect of Perspective (F1,210 =664.98; p<.0001). In keeping with what found in the men sample3, women adjust their bodily awareness by integrating internal and external bodily cues. This finding has potential implications for the study of disorders that affect BSC in females, such as eating disorders.