Bidirectional brain-body interactions during natural story listening
This study shows that cognitive processing of narratives influences various physiological signals, including eye movements, pupil size, and heart rate, which are all markers of autonomic arousal. This suggests a top-down mechanism by which cognitive functions affect the body’s physiological state. These findings support the idea that the mind and body are interconnected, and that our cognitive engagement with the world can directly impact our physiological responses.
Google scholar : link
Journal: Cell Reports
Year: 2024
Link to paper: link
Podcast: /audio
Highlights
- Listening to narratives modulates eye movements
- Heart rate fluctuations precede pupil size fluctuations and anterior-central neural activity
- Breathing modulates pupil size, suggesting causal effect on central arousal
- Rhythmic saccades can entrain heart beats