Editorial: Neurobiological and psychophysiological underpinnings of wellbeing and prosocial connectedness


Author: Darren J Edwards1, Hayley A Young2, Adrián Yoris3

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of Public Health, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom.

<sup>2</sup> School of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom.

<sup>3</sup> Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neurosciences (INCYT), INECO-Favaloro-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Conference/Journal: Front Integr Neurosci
Date published: 2022 Aug 8
Other:
 Volume ID: 16   ,  Pages: 995909   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.3389/fnint.2022.995909.   ,  Word Count: 133  
    Keywords: autonomic nervous system (ANS); heart rate variability (HRV); interoception; psychological flexibility; social connection; vagal nerve; wellbeing.



PMID: 36003216 PMCID: PMC9393752 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2022.995909 



The autonomic nervous system (ANS) and associated neurobiological pathways connecting the brain and body play a central role in health and wellbeing. For example, deficient vagal-nerve-related functioning such as interoception (sensory signals originating from inside the body which are carried by the vagal nerve to the brain) and low heart rate variability (HRV) have been linked to a range of mental health conditions, including mood and anxiety disorders, developmental, and eating disorders (Paulus and Stein, 2010; Chalmers et al., 2014; Jenkinson et al., 2018; Khalsa et al., 2018). Furthermore, a key driver of mental and physical wellbeing is the capacity for social connection; an ability that starts to develop during early childhood (Skinner and Zimmer-Gembeck, 2016).