Exploring the Relationship between Exteroception and Interoception in Neurotypical and Neurodivergent Populations

在人群中，感觉差异经常被报道，也许最常见的是与不同的神经分化状况有关。这包括自闭症患者，高达96%的人报告有感觉差异（Crane et al., 2009），以及注意缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）。无论这些差异是与对感官刺激的过度敏感还是低敏感有关，人们越来越认识到它们对一个人的情感和社会福祉可能产生的不利影响。因此，了解这些差异背后的原因是至关重要的，这反过来将有助于制定重要的干预措施，以更好地帮助和支持神经分化人群。随着人们对感觉差异的影响和频率的日益认识，研究已经开始研究这些感觉是如何不同的，主要集中在基本的外部感觉上，包括：触觉、嗅觉、视觉、声音和味觉。然而，一个正在迅速获得关注的领域是神经多样性人群内部感觉系统的差异。这包括内感受（对身体内部发生的事情的理解）和本体感受（知道身体在空间中的位置）等概念。Chen等人（2021）的工作强调了内部和外部系统如何以一种至关重要的方式相互作用来调节感官体验。由此，我们可以质疑这是否是感官体验差异的基础。了解这些系统是否以不同的方式相互作用，对于更好地理解这些差异出现的原因以及针对人群中特定监管差异的重点干预措施至关重要。本研究旨在利用虚拟现实幻影错觉技术系统地操纵外部和内部感觉系统之间的关系，以更好地了解这两个系统之间的关系在神经分化人群中是如何不同的。使用MIRAGE，可以实现多感官幻觉，并观察人群之间的差异。这种方法否定了先前伴随化身幻觉的挑战，即参与者必须首先采用道具作为自己的身体部分，这在自闭症人群中尤其具有挑战性。相反，这种方法允许一个实时图像，使它看起来是错觉发生在参与者的身体上。因此，这个项目将采用一种独特的方法来研究外部和内部感官之间的关系，以及这种关系在神经多样性人群中有何不同。

Sensory differences are frequently reported within the population perhaps being most commonly associated with different neurodivergent conditions. This includes in autistic individuals, where up to 96% of people have reported sensory differences (Crane et al., 2009), as well as in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Whether these differences are associated with being either hyper or hypo-sensitive to sensory stimuli, there is a growing appreciation for the adverse effects they can have on a person's emotional and social wellbeing. It is therefore critical to understand what is underlying these differences which, in turn, will help to develop vital interventions to better help and support the neurodivergent population.With the growing appreciation for the impact and frequency of sensory differences, research has begun to study how these senses are different focusing heavily on the basic external senses including: touch, smell, sight, sound and taste. An area that is rapidly gaining attention, however, is the differences in the internal sensory system within the neurodiverse population. This includes precepts such as interoception (an understanding of what is happening inside the body) and proprioception (knowing where the body is in space). Work conducted by Chen et al. (2021) has highlighted how both the internal and external systems may be interacting in a crucial way to regulate the sensory experience. From this, it can therefore be questioned as to whether this is underlying the differences in sensory experiences. Understanding whether these systems are interacting differently will be crucial to develop a better understanding as to why these differences emerge as well as focus interventions to target specific regulatory differences within the population.The proposed study aims to take advantage of virtual reality MIRAGE illusion technology to systematically manipulate the relationship between the external and internal sensory systems to better understand how the relationship between these two systems is different in the neurodivergent population. Using MIRAGE, multisensory illusions can be implemented and differences observed between populations. This methodology negates previous challenges that accompany illusions of embodiment where the participant must first adopt a prop as their own body part, something especially challenging within the autistic population. Instead, this method allows a real time image to make it appear that the illusion is happening with the participants body. Thus, this project will take a unique approach to studying the relationship between the external and internal senses and how this may be different in the neurodiverse population.