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World J Psychiatry. Nov 19, 2026; 16(11): 124324
Published online Nov 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.124324
Published online Nov 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.124324
Interoceptive aberrations in major depressive disorder: Neural mechanisms, clinical correlates, and targeted interventions
Hui Deng, Ya-Qing Wang, Yi-Fan Sun, Hong-Liang Zhou, Zhen-He Zhou, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Mental Health Center of Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China
Hong-Liang Zhou, Department of Psychology, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Hui Deng and Ya-Qing Wang.
Co-corresponding authors: Hong-Liang Zhou and Zhen-He Zhou.
Author contributions: Deng H conceptualized the structural framework of the review, conducted literature synthesis, and wrote the original draft; Wang YQ developed the literature search strategy, contributed to literature identification and synthesis, and co-wrote the original draft; Sun YF was substantially involved in the early conceptualization of the review, contributed to the development and refinement of its overall framework, participated in literature synthesis, and critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content during the writing and revision process; Zhou ZH and Zhou HL jointly supervised the project, provided critical intellectual input, and critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content, and they contributed equally to this work as co-corresponding authors; all authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript. Deng H and Wang YQ contributed equally to this work and share first authorship.
AI contribution statement: No generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were used in the preparation of this manuscript.
Supported by Wuxi Municipal Health Commission Major Project, No. Z202107; and Wuxi Taihu Talent Project, No. WXTTP 2021.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Zhen-He Zhou, MD, PhD, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Mental Health Center of Jiangnan University, No. 156 Qianrong Road, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China. zhouzh@jiangnan.edu.cn
Received: June 12, 2026
Revised: August 9, 2026
Accepted: September 15, 2026
Published online: November 19, 2026
Processing time: 140 Days and 4.2 Hours
Revised: August 9, 2026
Accepted: September 15, 2026
Published online: November 19, 2026
Processing time: 140 Days and 4.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This narrative review reframes the apparently inconsistent interoceptive findings in major depressive disorder (MDD) as a multidimensional pattern, with part of the apparent heterogeneity across studies related to measurement choice and illness stage. By comparing major assessment approaches and integrating behavioral, neurobiological, and clinical evidence, we identify where findings across interoceptive domains converge and diverge, with active inference serving as a heuristic perspective for interpreting selected links across levels of analysis. This synthesis points toward future stage-sensitive, multimodal assessment and more mechanism-informed intervention research in MDD.