Kyoungeun Lee

and 3 more

While aging is known to influence perceptual sensitivity, how it affects interoception across the lifespan remains poorly understood. Prior research has focused narrowly on single dimensions (e.g., interoceptive accuracy) or isolated modalities (e.g., cardiac interoception), neglecting the complex, dynamic, and multidimensional nature of interoception. Moreover, most studies assess interoception at rest, limiting insight into how individuals track real-time changes in interoceptive state. In this study, we examined age-related differences in both interoceptive accuracy and sensibility across cardiac and respiratory modalities in healthy adults aged 18 to 79 years. Using non-invasive interoceptive perturbations—specifically breath-holding and inspiratory resistive loading—to elicit dynamic fluctuations in interoceptive signals. Our results revealed that older age was associated with reduced cardiac interoceptive sensitivity during perturbation, while respiratory sensitivity remained stable across age. Additionally, interoceptive sensibility increased with age, suggesting a divergence between subjective awareness and objective sensitivity with aging. These findings demonstrate that interoceptive awareness does not decline uniformly with age, but instead varies by modality and dimension. By identifying how aging differentially impacts interoceptive accuracy and sensibility across systems, this study opens new avenues for characterizing age-related changes in self-awareness and bodily regulation.