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Chapter 5128facial expressions, as they are specific for different emotion categories (Folz et al., 2022; Wingenbach et al., 2020) and can act as simulations of observed expressions (Arnold & Winkielman, 2020; Wood et al., 2016). Robust evidence for a link between facial mimicry and emotion recognition has not been established in the scarce literature on this topic (Holland et al., 2020). Yet, some studies have found that nonautistic individuals were influenced by their own facial expressions in attributing emotional states to themselves (Soussignan, 2002; Stel & van Knippenberg, 2008) and others (Drimalla et al., 2019; Sato et al., 2013). In contrast, no influence of facial mimicry on experienced emotions, even if it was intentionally produced, has been reported in individuals on the autism spectrum(Stel & van Knippenberg, 2008). Furthermore, in non-autistic samples, reduced facial mimicry has, if at all, only been linked to higher autistic trait levels for very specific emotions and subgroups (Hermans et al., 2009). Interestingly, in our recent study in which no systematic modulations of facial mimicry by autistic trait levels have been found, a weaker link between facial mimicry responses to sad facial expressions (i.e., mirroring of frowns) and successful emotion recognition has been observed (Folz et al., 2023). Thus, the presence of physiological alignment to emotional expressions might not be sufficient to facilitate emotion recognition. In order to integrate information about one%u2019s own physiological state in emotion processing, certain interoceptive abilities, namely an awareness of changes in physiological state as well as an accurate representation thereof, may be necessary. Findings from various studies support the link between emotional and somatic awareness, with the latter being more fundamental (Kanbara & Fukunaga, 2016). Hence, in the current study we aimed to identify whether individual differences in the sensation and integration of one%u2019s physiological signals would be linked to emotion recognition outcomes, and whether this could offer an explanation to altered emotion processing associated with variations in autistic trait levels. Interoception in Emotion Processing Research on interoception, or the %u201csense of the physiological condition of the entire body%u201d (Craig, 2002), has recently highlighted the integration of physiological signals in central processing beyond homeostatic control, widely influencing human cognition and behaviour (Critchley & Harrison, 2013). This also entails the affective domain (Critchley & Garfinkel, 2017). By detecting and assigning meaning to physiological changes, interoceptive processes can become an important mechanism in emotion processing (Smith & Lane, 2015). From a predictive coding