Evidence / 2019
Interoceptive awareness in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Kutscheidt K, Dresler T, Hudak J, et al. (2019). ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders.
- Population
- 14 adults with ADHD and 16 comparison adults
- Sample
- n = 30 (very small)
- Condition
- ADHD; interoceptive awareness via heartbeat tracking
- Medication focus
- Not a treatment trial
- Jurisdiction
- Germany
- Last reviewed
- 1 September 2026
- PMID
- 30937850
- DOI
- 10.1007/s12402-019-00299-3
Plain-language finding
Adults with ADHD performed worse than comparison participants on a heartbeat-tracking task, which the authors interpreted as reduced interoceptive awareness. There was no significant correlation with ADHD questionnaire scores in this sample.
Important limitation
Very small sample. Heartbeat tracking is a contested measure of interoception. Later studies have been mixed. This supports a hypothesis of interoceptive difference in ADHD; it does not establish that stimulant treatment changes interoception.
Why we cite this
One of the early experimental papers specifically asking whether adults with ADHD differ in interoceptive awareness.
adhd · interoception · emerging
Early studies exist. Findings may be heterogeneous, samples small, or mechanisms still under investigation. Replication is limited.
Claims this source supports
ADHD is associated, in some studies, with differences in interoception — the sensing of internal bodily signals. Findings are mixed and samples are often small.
Last reviewed 1 September 2026
One plausible possibility is that improved attentional discrimination gives some people more capacity to recognise internal signals that were already present. Current research supports interoceptive differences in ADHD and supports changes in attentional regulation with treatment. The complete pathway from stimulant treatment to improved interoceptive awareness has not been established.
Last reviewed 1 September 2026