Exploring the Emotional Effects of Enhanced Interoception via Heartbeat-Synchronized Haptic Feedback

Abstract

This study examines how amplifying real-time heartbeat feedback affects emotion regulation. Accurate heartbeat perception—a key facet of cardiac interoception—has been linked to emotional awareness and mental well-being, yet the causal role of interoceptive feedback in emotion regulation remains underexplored. We empirically tested whether making heart rate signals more perceptible through wearable haptic feedback could facilitate implicit emotion regulation during emotionally evocative experiences. Using a custom Fitbit-based system, thirty participants received real-time, sham, or no heartbeat-synchronized vibrations while viewing fear- and amusement-inducing film clips. Interoceptive accuracy, emotional disturbance, and the linguistic complexity of emotion descriptions were measured. Exploratory analyses showed that real-time feedback reduced emotional disturbance during fear stimuli, especially among individuals attentive to bodily sensations, though effects did not remain significant after multiple comparisons correction. Feedback primarily modulated arousal rather than valence and did not significantly affect heartbeat counting or linguistic complexity. As one of the first causal, empirical investigations of interoceptive feedback and emotion regulation, this work identifies boundary conditions for its effectiveness and offers insights for designing personalized, interoception-aware wearable technologies.