# Bridging the Internal and External Sensory Worlds in Autism

> **NIH NIH R01** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $424,580

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Altered sensory experiences are prevalent in autism and have been implicated in not only the core
behavioral characteristics of impaired social communication and repetitive behaviors, but in a range of
associated comorbidities including sleep disturbances2 and anxiety24. Recent work in the sensory domain
strongly suggests that the predictability, or lack thereof, of sensory stimuli heavily influences aberrant
reactions and mediates relations between sensory sensitivity, anxiety, and social motivation in autism78-79.
Most sensory research thus far has emphasized exteroceptive sensation—sensory signals that originate in the
external environment—with less work on interoceptive sensation—sensory signals that arise from the viscera
and skin to signal the brain about the physiological condition of the body6. These interoceptive cues are often
the precursors of emotional experience, and thus have significant transdiagnostic clinical relevance in
psychiatry. Evaluation of the emotional relevance of the external environment—within which social stimuli are
embedded—requires a continuous exchange of information between exteroceptive and interoceptive
processing streams. In other words, successful navigation of the social world depends on multisensory
integration across the body boundary. Critically for autism, many visceral interoceptive signals tend to be
very rhythmic (e.g., cardiac signals), and/or are under voluntary control (e.g., respiratory signals) and are thus
far more predictable than environmental exteroceptive cues. This predictability is enhanced on average in
individuals with autism, who tend to have higher heart rates and lower heart rate variability than controls. In the
current project period, we found evidence for profoundly disrupted temporal integration of visceral interoceptive
and exteroceptive signals, without clear evidence of disrupted interoception alone. We now propose, in this
renewal, to isolate and test potential neural drivers and clinical sequelae of this disrupted integration. The
proposed work will provide important new insights into the consequences of sensory processing deficits in
autism that go beyond exteroceptive sensation, incorporating a sensory milieu that has high relevance for
social-emotional functioning.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10021715
- **Project number:** 5R01MH102272-07
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Carissa J Cascio
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $424,580
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2014-08-07 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10021715

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10021715, Bridging the Internal and External Sensory Worlds in Autism (5R01MH102272-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10021715. Licensed CC0.

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