Panic disorder patients and healthy people differently identify their own heart frequency through sound

The ability to detect the perceptual cues related to cardiac activity is an important aspect related to the onset and maintenance of some psychopathological disorders, such as panic disorder. We tested two groups – panic disorder (PD) patients and healthy participants – in order to examine the ability to estimate participants’ own heart frequency. We used an auditory identification task, based on the administration of auditory tracks representative of ecological sounds of heartbeat. Results showed that all healthy participants underestimated their own heart frequency, whereas the majority of PD patients overestimated it. This different response tendency could influence the development of psychopathologies such as panic disorder. These outcomes suggest the possible development of trainings for PD patients based on the use of auditory stimulation.