Sahib Khalsa
@skhalsa.bsky.social
Psychiatrist and neuroscientist studying the role of interoception in mental health. Director of Anxiety Disorders Research, UCLA Psychiatry. Opinions my own.
These findings show how gut-brain science could transform #eatingdisorder care—offering scalable biomarkers for relapse and paving the way for personalized treatments.
September 22, 2025 at 8:14 PM
These findings show how gut-brain science could transform #eatingdisorder care—offering scalable biomarkers for relapse and paving the way for personalized treatments.
Most striking: altered gut perception patterns predicted six-month relapse risk and eating disorder symptom severity. This is the first evidence that gut interoception can forecast relapse in AN. Full details in our new preprint: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 22, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Most striking: altered gut perception patterns predicted six-month relapse risk and eating disorder symptom severity. This is the first evidence that gut interoception can forecast relapse in AN. Full details in our new preprint: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
What we found:
AN individuals missed more gut signals despite intact brain/body responses. ❌
Computational models showed biased expectations & reduced precision 🧠
Capsule stimulation also triggered greater hunger increases in AN 🍽
AN individuals missed more gut signals despite intact brain/body responses. ❌
Computational models showed biased expectations & reduced precision 🧠
Capsule stimulation also triggered greater hunger increases in AN 🍽
September 22, 2025 at 8:14 PM
What we found:
AN individuals missed more gut signals despite intact brain/body responses. ❌
Computational models showed biased expectations & reduced precision 🧠
Capsule stimulation also triggered greater hunger increases in AN 🍽
AN individuals missed more gut signals despite intact brain/body responses. ❌
Computational models showed biased expectations & reduced precision 🧠
Capsule stimulation also triggered greater hunger increases in AN 🍽
We tested whether gastrointestinal #interoception, the brain’s ability to sense gut signals, might reveal hidden vulnerabilities. Using an ingestible vibrating capsule, we measured behavior, brain activity (EEG), and physiology as participants detected gut sensations.
September 22, 2025 at 8:14 PM
We tested whether gastrointestinal #interoception, the brain’s ability to sense gut signals, might reveal hidden vulnerabilities. Using an ingestible vibrating capsule, we measured behavior, brain activity (EEG), and physiology as participants detected gut sensations.
Even after recovery, relapse is heartbreakingly common in anorexia nervosa. Could the answer lie in the gut’s hidden signals? 🧵
September 22, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Even after recovery, relapse is heartbreakingly common in anorexia nervosa. Could the answer lie in the gut’s hidden signals? 🧵
What if many psychiatric disorders share the same hidden glitch in how the brain infers reality? In a new volume, Al Powers and I gather experts to examine how disrupted sensory inference across #vision, #touch, #proprioception and #interoception might unify our understanding.
September 17, 2025 at 6:32 AM
What if many psychiatric disorders share the same hidden glitch in how the brain infers reality? In a new volume, Al Powers and I gather experts to examine how disrupted sensory inference across #vision, #touch, #proprioception and #interoception might unify our understanding.
Postdoc job alert! I’m looking for someone with a PhD in neuroscience/psychology, psychiatry, biomed engineering, computational modeling or a related field to join my NIH-funded team at UCLA studying the neural & computational mechanisms of #interoception in anorexia nervosa 1/2
August 7, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Postdoc job alert! I’m looking for someone with a PhD in neuroscience/psychology, psychiatry, biomed engineering, computational modeling or a related field to join my NIH-funded team at UCLA studying the neural & computational mechanisms of #interoception in anorexia nervosa 1/2
Special thanks to NIDDK for funding this workshop and supporting interoception research. To the internal organizers Diana Cummings, Voula Osganian, Terez Shea-Donohue, Bradley Cooke:🙏
External organizers and Commentary co-authors:
Lin Chang @christophthaiss.bsky.social @zknight.bsky.social 🙏🙏
External organizers and Commentary co-authors:
Lin Chang @christophthaiss.bsky.social @zknight.bsky.social 🙏🙏
June 24, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Special thanks to NIDDK for funding this workshop and supporting interoception research. To the internal organizers Diana Cummings, Voula Osganian, Terez Shea-Donohue, Bradley Cooke:🙏
External organizers and Commentary co-authors:
Lin Chang @christophthaiss.bsky.social @zknight.bsky.social 🙏🙏
External organizers and Commentary co-authors:
Lin Chang @christophthaiss.bsky.social @zknight.bsky.social 🙏🙏
Emerging technologies are poised to shift the field:
⚡Noninvasive neuromodulation
🧠Neural interfaces in gut & brain
🧬Microbiome-based diagnostics and therapeutics
⏳Real-time measures of vagal & spinal activity
These tools could personalize treatment for obesity and DGBI.
⚡Noninvasive neuromodulation
🧠Neural interfaces in gut & brain
🧬Microbiome-based diagnostics and therapeutics
⏳Real-time measures of vagal & spinal activity
These tools could personalize treatment for obesity and DGBI.
June 24, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Emerging technologies are poised to shift the field:
⚡Noninvasive neuromodulation
🧠Neural interfaces in gut & brain
🧬Microbiome-based diagnostics and therapeutics
⏳Real-time measures of vagal & spinal activity
These tools could personalize treatment for obesity and DGBI.
⚡Noninvasive neuromodulation
🧠Neural interfaces in gut & brain
🧬Microbiome-based diagnostics and therapeutics
⏳Real-time measures of vagal & spinal activity
These tools could personalize treatment for obesity and DGBI.
What if 'gut feeling' was more than a metaphor, and the key to treating obesity and gastrointestinal disorders? This new commentary, born from the 2024 NIDDK workshop on Interoceptive Contributions to Obesity & DGBI is now out in Gastroenterology: sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
June 24, 2025 at 11:36 PM
What if 'gut feeling' was more than a metaphor, and the key to treating obesity and gastrointestinal disorders? This new commentary, born from the 2024 NIDDK workshop on Interoceptive Contributions to Obesity & DGBI is now out in Gastroenterology: sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Can inflammation reveal why some individuals with depression can't feel joy? In this latest work led by Jonathan Savitz, Mike Irwin, and @mpwpaulus.bsky.social published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, we attempted to address just that:
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
June 9, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Can inflammation reveal why some individuals with depression can't feel joy? In this latest work led by Jonathan Savitz, Mike Irwin, and @mpwpaulus.bsky.social published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, we attempted to address just that:
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
And the football was epic again!!
May 17, 2025 at 11:17 AM
And the football was epic again!!
Neuroimaging of AN shows reduced connectivity in interoceptive brain regions (insula, thalamus, ACC) and increased activity in visual areas during body image tasks. Weakened self-referential processing (PCC, precuneus) may further impair body representation. #neuroscience #bodyimage
April 4, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Neuroimaging of AN shows reduced connectivity in interoceptive brain regions (insula, thalamus, ACC) and increased activity in visual areas during body image tasks. Weakened self-referential processing (PCC, precuneus) may further impair body representation. #neuroscience #bodyimage
In anorexia nervosa (AN), decreased sensitivity to internal body signals (#interoception) and heightened focus on external cues (like appearance) disrupt body signal processing. This imbalance fosters self-objectification and distorted body image.
April 4, 2025 at 4:41 PM
In anorexia nervosa (AN), decreased sensitivity to internal body signals (#interoception) and heightened focus on external cues (like appearance) disrupt body signal processing. This imbalance fosters self-objectification and distorted body image.
There are now nearly 5000 papers on #interoception. And the output over the last 4 years is more than the previous 59. 🤯
December 9, 2024 at 12:58 AM
There are now nearly 5000 papers on #interoception. And the output over the last 4 years is more than the previous 59. 🤯
Want to learn more about #interoception and its role in the brain? Come join Sarah Garfinkel and me in Venice in May 2025 for the 2nd course on this topic. Beyond the sublime learning, terrific speaker lineup, amazing local attractions, and delicious Italian cuisine, we also have fun!
November 13, 2024 at 10:48 PM
Want to learn more about #interoception and its role in the brain? Come join Sarah Garfinkel and me in Venice in May 2025 for the 2nd course on this topic. Beyond the sublime learning, terrific speaker lineup, amazing local attractions, and delicious Italian cuisine, we also have fun!
This time, activation of the agranular anterior insula was specific to these anticipatory periods across both groups. This is consistent with an increase in interoceptive prediction and fits with a role proposed by Barrett & Simmons in this modern classic: www.nature.com/articles/nrn...
November 13, 2024 at 10:44 PM
This time, activation of the agranular anterior insula was specific to these anticipatory periods across both groups. This is consistent with an increase in interoceptive prediction and fits with a role proposed by Barrett & Simmons in this modern classic: www.nature.com/articles/nrn...
However, relative to healthy individuals, the convergent right insula cluster also showed abnormal changes in of functional connectivity with the middle frontal gyrus (a prefrontal region implicated in top-down processing) in the psychiatric disorder group
November 13, 2024 at 10:44 PM
However, relative to healthy individuals, the convergent right insula cluster also showed abnormal changes in of functional connectivity with the middle frontal gyrus (a prefrontal region implicated in top-down processing) in the psychiatric disorder group
Despite hemispheric asymmetries in spatial coactivation patterns, signal intensity in the right insula was associated with real-time cardiorespiratory perception irrespective of group, supporting a transdiagnostic role for this region in #interoception
November 13, 2024 at 10:44 PM
Despite hemispheric asymmetries in spatial coactivation patterns, signal intensity in the right insula was associated with real-time cardiorespiratory perception irrespective of group, supporting a transdiagnostic role for this region in #interoception
Our main finding: across the whole brain, neural convergence between top-down and bottom-up streams occurred within the dysgranular mid-insula. However, hemispheric differences also emerged across anxiety, depression, and/or eating disorders.
November 13, 2024 at 10:44 PM
Our main finding: across the whole brain, neural convergence between top-down and bottom-up streams occurred within the dysgranular mid-insula. However, hemispheric differences also emerged across anxiety, depression, and/or eating disorders.
#Interoception relies upon the bidirectional trafficking of brain-body signals. But where in the brain do these two information streams meet? Our latest study localized this interaction for cardiorespiratory sensation and examined how it might differ across psychiatric disorders
November 13, 2024 at 10:44 PM
#Interoception relies upon the bidirectional trafficking of brain-body signals. But where in the brain do these two information streams meet? Our latest study localized this interaction for cardiorespiratory sensation and examined how it might differ across psychiatric disorders
Excited to co-chair tomorrow’s symposium on Artificial Intelligence Language Models and Psychiatry: Opportunities and Perils with Nick Obradovich at Technology in Psychiatry Summit #TIPS2023 featuring Olu Ajilore, Roy Perlis, Waqas Khan & Jina Suh, with the great Martin Paulus as discussant.
December 1, 2023 at 1:51 AM
Excited to co-chair tomorrow’s symposium on Artificial Intelligence Language Models and Psychiatry: Opportunities and Perils with Nick Obradovich at Technology in Psychiatry Summit #TIPS2023 featuring Olu Ajilore, Roy Perlis, Waqas Khan & Jina Suh, with the great Martin Paulus as discussant.