| Title: |
Heart–Brain Temporal Coupling as a Candidate Biomarker of Self-Congruency |
| Authors: |
Nicolas Bourdillon; Sébastien Urben; Nina Rimorini; Alicia Rey; Cyril Besson; Jean-Baptiste Ledoux; Yasser Alemán-Gómez; Eleonora Fornari; Solange Denervaud |
| Source: |
Biomedicines ; Volume 14 ; Issue 3 ; Pages: 548 |
| Publisher Information: |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Collection: |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
| Subject Terms: |
heart rate variability; neural dynamics variability; self-congruency; neurovisceral integration model; emotion regulation; mental health |
| Description: |
Background. Self-congruency refers to the coherence between emotional experience (internal states) and enacted behavior (outward actions). Reduced self-congruency has been linked to vulnerability in mental health, yet its physiological correlates remain poorly characterized. Heart–brain temporal coupling may provide a candidate physiological marker of this psychological coherence. Methods. Thirty-eight healthy adults underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging while cardiac activity was simultaneously recorded using photoplethysmography to derive heart rate variability (HRV). Self-congruency was assessed using a graphic rating scale based on the spatial overlap between emotional experience and enacted behavior. Heart–brain temporal coupling between HRV and regional blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signals was quantified using cross-covariance analysis across biologically plausible temporal shifts. Results. Heart–brain temporal coupling predominantly reflected brain-to-heart temporal ordering, particularly within regions central to the neurovisceral integration model, including the ventromedial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices. In contrast, higher self-congruency was associated with stronger heart-to-brain temporal coupling, notably within the right rostral middle frontal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus, regions implicated in emotion regulation and socio-emotional processing. Conclusions. While global heart–brain temporal coupling is dominated by top-down neural regulation, greater alignment between emotional experience and enacted behavior is associated with enhanced bottom-up cardiac temporal ordering on neural activity. These findings seem to identify a physiological–psychological axis that may inform original prevention-oriented approaches in mental health. |
| Document Type: |
text |
| File Description: |
application/pdf |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
Molecular and Translational Medicine; https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines14030548 |
| DOI: |
10.3390/biomedicines14030548 |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines14030548 |
| Rights: |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.6F586511 |
| Database: |
BASE |