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Inner Sense
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Inner Sense

How the New Science of Interoception Can Transform Your Health

Caroline Williams
Profile Books, 2025
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9

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  • Scientific
  • Applicable
  • Eye Opening

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Modern neuroscience is overturning the centuries-old belief that the mind and body are separate realms. In this eye-opening text, science writer Caroline Williams explores the emerging field of interoception — the brain’s awareness of the body’s inner world — revealing how sensations from the heart, gut, skin, and other organs underlie health and vitality, while shaping people’s emotions, thoughts, and sense of self. In clear, engaging prose, she describes cutting-edge research that reveals how numerous aspects of human life depend on the body’s continuous dialogue with the brain.

Summary

Sensations and signals from inside the body play a vital role in health and survival.

Historically, people thought of the brain as a command center that issued orders to the body rather than listening to it. Modern science takes a different view: that mind and body are inseparable partners. Evidence suggests that the brain is actually involved in a continuous feedback loop with bodily sensations. A process called interoception enables the brain to sense and interpret signals from within the body, such as heartbeat, hunger, temperature, energy levels, pressure, and pain. The brain then uses this information to make predictions about the body’s future state and to direct adjustments accordingly. Because this data is so vital to survival, the brain keeps it at the center of all experience. Thus, these internal signals color every thought and feeling, and they form the foundation for emotion, a sense of self, and social relationships.

Most of the interoceptive system operates below the level of conscious awareness, quietly regulating the body’s balance. When the inner “live stream” of signals demands conscious attention or adjustment, people experience feelings — the translation...

About the Author

Caroline Williams is a UK-based science journalist, editor, and author specializing in neuroscience, psychology and the body-mind connection. Her work has appeared in major outlets including The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, and National Geographic, and she has been a regular contributor to New Scientist magazine.

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