Disrupted interoception is even reported in many mental health conditions – including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders.

Despite how important interoception is to all aspects of our health, little is known about whether men and women differ in how accurately they sense their body's internal signals.

Our findings may be important for helping us understand why many common mental health conditions (such as anxiety and depression) are more prevalent in women than men from puberty onward.

Knowing the differences in how men and women sense interoceptive signals may also be important for treating mental illness.

While new studies suggest improving interoception improves mental health, studies also suggest that men may use interoceptive signals – for example from their heart – more than women when processing their emotions.

Other differences have also been reported, with studies suggesting that women pay more attention to interoceptive signals than men.

Better understanding all the factors that affect interoceptive ability may be important for someday developing better treatments for many mental health conditions.