ADIE-FS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Aligning Dimensions of Interoceptive Experience in Functional Seizures: A Feasibility Pilot Study
IRAS ID
322599
Contact name
Mahinda Yogarajah
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCLH/UCL
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2023/02/60, UCL Data Protection Number
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Functional Seizures (FS) are thought to occur by the brain “shutting down” through a process of temporary dissociation. However, the mechanisms underlying FS are poorly understood and effective treatments to permanently reduce FS frequency and severity need to be developed. For example, a recent randomised control trial into cognitive behavioural therapy for FS did not find a significant long-term reduction in seizure frequency in comparison to the control group. \n\nRecent research into FS and interoception – how the nervous system senses, interprets and integrates information from inside the body – has shown that altered interoception is linked to FS. For example, our group recently demonstrated that FS patients have noisy interoceptive baselines compared to healthy controls. Moreover, the difference between a patient’s objective sensitivity to interoceptive information and their insight into their sensitivity (i.e., how interoceptively accurate they are), correlates with seizure frequency, after correcting for levels of anxiety and depression. In separate research, interoceptive training has been found to reduce anxiety with patients with autism in comparison to healthy controls by seemingly improving regulatory control over internal stimuli. \n\nGiven the clinical significance afforded to anxiety and dissociation and the key mechanistic role played by interoception in FS generation, interoceptive training provides an exciting avenue for an alternative treatment for FS. We hypothesise that interoceptive training – a program to support better awareness and management of bodily sensations – may have a beneficial role in the treatment of patients with FS by aligning their beliefs about their ability to interpret signals from their body (e.g., their heartbeat) with how accurately they can interpret their bodily signals.\n\nThis study aims to demonstrate the feasibility and benefit of interoceptive training as a successful treatment for patients with FS, and in doing so, generate pilot data for a future large scale study application.\n
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
23/NS/0075
Date of REC Opinion
25 Aug 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion