No relationship between proprioception and interoception in university athletes and non-athletes

Proprioception and interoception are two complex physiological functions believed to be dependent on a variety of factors. The present study examined the relationship between proprioception and interoception in a sample of undergraduate students to determine whether varsity athlete status moderated the relationship, as physical activity levels have been hypothesized to influence both proprioception and interoception. Participants (n = 24) completed two tasks: a heartbeat discrimination test of interoceptive accuracy and a joint position matching test of proprioceptive accuracy at the elbow joint. Participants completed a questionnaire to determine their status as a varsity athlete at the university and the amount of time they dedicated every week to physical activity. The relationship between proprioceptive and interoceptive accuracy scores was analyzed across the entire sample and compared across athletes and non-athletes. Despite differences in physical activity between athletes and non-athletes (p = 0.04, d = 0.87), results revealed no significant relationships between proprioceptive accuracy and interoceptive accuracy in the entire sample (r(22) = 0.16, p = 0.47), in athletes (r(9) = -0.31, p = 0.36), or in non-athletes (r(11) = 0.53, p = 0.06). Also, this relationship did not significantly differ between athletes and non-athletes (q = 0.91, p = 0.06), despite a large effect size. Overall, there were no significant relationships between athlete status, proprioceptive accuracy, and interoceptive accuracy.