Bodily intolerance of uncertainty influences perceptual recalibration of abdomen representation

Introduction: Body representation is a dynamic construct that can be updateddepending on precision weighting of sensory prediction errors. The current study testedwhether a trait level influences this updating process. Specifically, we tested whetherbodily intolerance of uncertainty (IU), a distress response to ambiguous bodily signals,modulates visuo-somatic updating of perceived abdominal boundaries. Methods: Participants competed a virtual reality paradigm, estimating perceived abdominalboundaries before and after either congruent or incongruent visuo-tactile feedback. Inthe incongruent condition, the abdomen boundary was manipulated as bigger. Results: Mixed-eLects modelling showed that bodily IU predicted greater updating underincongruent feedback. Discussion: These findings indicate that bodily IU amplifiesperceptual change when sensory information is ambiguous, suggesting a trait-level biasin precision control.