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Scientific Reports Oct 2017Alexithymia is a psychological construct characterized by deficits in processing emotional stimuli. However, little is known about the processing of odours in...
Alexithymia is a psychological construct characterized by deficits in processing emotional stimuli. However, little is known about the processing of odours in alexithymia, even though there is extensive proof that emotion and olfaction are closely linked. The present study is aimed at investigating how alexithymic individuals process emotions conveyed by odors. Emotional responses to unpleasant, neutral odors and clean air were collected through self-report ratings and psychophysiological measures in a sample of 62 healthy participants with high (HA), medium (MA) and low (LA) levels of alexithymia. Moreover, participants performed tests on odors identification and threshold and completed questionnaires assessing olfactory imagery and awareness. Two main results have been found: first, HA and MA groups showed altered physiological responses to odors, compared to LA, while no differences among the groups were observed in odor ratings; and second, affective and cognitive alexithymia components were differently associated with the performance on olfactory tests, skin conductance response to odors, reaction times in the rating task, and scores on olfactory questionnaires. We conclude that alexithymia is characterized by altered physiological reactions to olfactory stimuli; moreover, we stress the importance of evaluating the different alexithymia components since they affect emotional stimuli processing in different ways.
Topics: Adult; Affective Symptoms; Case-Control Studies; Emotions; Female; Humans; Male; Odorants; Personality; Self Report
PubMed: 29074970
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14404-x -
Neurologia Jun 2023Alexithymia is a neuropsychiatric symptom conceptualized as difficulty identifying and describing feelings. Although associated with other non-motor symptoms, mainly...
INTRODUCTION
Alexithymia is a neuropsychiatric symptom conceptualized as difficulty identifying and describing feelings. Although associated with other non-motor symptoms, mainly neuropsychiatric, alexithymia may present as an isolated symptom in persons with Parkinson's Disease (PwP). The objective of the study is to identify determinants of alexithymia and its association with quality of life (QoL) in Parkinson's disease.
METHODS
Subjects with Parkinson's disease were recruited. The following instruments were applied: Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-20) and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-8). Matched healthy controls were screened using TAS-20. Clinical and demographical variables were compared between alexithymic and non-alexithymic. Regression models were used to find determinants of alexithymia. Impact of alexithymia on QoL was estimated with a linear regression model.
RESULTS
98 patients were included. 56.1% PwP and 28.8% controls were alexithymic (p<0.001). Education level (OR 0.86) and NMSS urinary score (OR 1.09) determined alexithymia as well as TAS-20 score. Alexithymia was an independent determinant of QoL.
CONCLUSIONS
Alexithymia is a prevalent independent non-motor symptom in PwP with impact on QoL. Low education level and urinary symptoms are important determinants of alexithymia.
Topics: Humans; Parkinson Disease; Affective Symptoms; Quality of Life; Mental Status and Dementia Tests; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 37263728
DOI: 10.1016/j.nrleng.2020.10.015 -
Autism : the International Journal of... Apr 2023Autistic people have more physical health problems than non-autistic people. We were interested in whether autistic people experience more discomfort in their bodies...
Autistic people have more physical health problems than non-autistic people. We were interested in whether autistic people experience more discomfort in their bodies than non-autistic people and whether certain psychological traits contribute to that. A survey was completed online by older adolescents and adults, 51 of whom were autistic, 32 of whom thought they might be autistic but were not diagnosed and 119 who were not autistic. They completed measures of somatic symptoms (daily experience of pain, discomfort, dizziness), alexithymia (difficulty identifying and expressing feelings), interoception (how much people are aware of their bodies) and intolerance of uncertainty (how people handle doubt or uncertainty), and reported any physical or mental health conditions. We found that the autistic participants had more physical and mental health conditions than the non-autistic participants, but even when we took account of this, they experienced higher levels of somatic symptoms. We looked at which psychological factors influenced levels of somatic symptoms across the whole sample, and found that alexithymia, intolerance of uncertainty, having physical health problems, being female and the number of mental health conditions predicted somatic symptoms, while interoception and autism diagnosis did not. The findings suggest that people may be more likely to experience physical discomfort if they are female, and have difficulty identifying and expressing feeling and difficulty tolerating doubt. As these psychological factors are more prominent in autism, we think this is important for physical and mental health providers to know about, so that these psychological factors can be considered when assessing and treating autistic people.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Humans; Female; Male; Autistic Disorder; Affective Symptoms; Uncertainty; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Medically Unexplained Symptoms
PubMed: 35841153
DOI: 10.1177/13623613221109717 -
PloS One 2012Alexithymia is characterized by difficulties in identifying, differentiating and describing feelings. A high prevalence of alexithymia has often been observed in... (Review)
Review
Alexithymia is characterized by difficulties in identifying, differentiating and describing feelings. A high prevalence of alexithymia has often been observed in clinical disorders characterized by low social functioning. This review aims to assess the association between alexithymia and the ability to decode emotional facial expressions (EFEs) within clinical and healthy populations. More precisely, this review has four main objectives: (1) to assess if alexithymia is a better predictor of the ability to decode EFEs than the diagnosis of clinical disorder; (2) to assess the influence of comorbid factors (depression and anxiety disorder) on the ability to decode EFE; (3) to investigate if deficits in decoding EFEs are specific to some levels of processing or task types; (4) to investigate if the deficits are specific to particular EFEs. Twenty four studies (behavioural and neuroimaging) were identified through a computerized literature search of Psycinfo, PubMed, and Web of Science databases from 1990 to 2010. Data on methodology, clinical characteristics, and possible confounds were analyzed. The review revealed that: (1) alexithymia is associated with deficits in labelling EFEs among clinical disorders, (2) the level of depression and anxiety partially account for the decoding deficits, (3) alexithymia is associated with reduced perceptual abilities, and is likely to be associated with impaired semantic representations of emotional concepts, and (4) alexithymia is associated with neither specific EFEs nor a specific valence. These studies are discussed with respect to processes involved in the recognition of EFEs. Future directions for research on emotion perception are also discussed.
Topics: Affective Symptoms; Emotions; Facial Expression; Humans; Neuroimaging
PubMed: 22927931
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042429 -
Psychiatry Research Mar 2019Alexithymia, or the inability to identify and describe one's emotions, is significantly higher in bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ), compared to healthy... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Alexithymia, or the inability to identify and describe one's emotions, is significantly higher in bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ), compared to healthy controls (HC). Alexithymia has also been observed to predict psychosocial functioning in SZ. We investigated whether alexithymia predicted social and everyday functioning in BD, as well as transdiagnostically in HC, BD, and SZ patients. 56 BD, 45 SZ, and 50 HC were administered and compared on tests measuring neurocognition, social cognition, functioning and alexithymia. We conducted linear regressions assessing whether alexithymia predicted functional outcomes in BD. Next, we conducted hierarchical stepwise linear regressions investigating the predictive ability of neurocognition, social cognition and alexithymia on everyday and social functioning in our overall sample. BD and SZ patients were comparable on most demographics and demonstrated higher alexithymia compared to HCs. In BD, alexithymia predicted social functioning only. In the overall sample, difficulty identifying and describing feelings predicted everyday functioning; difficulty describing feelings predicted social functioning. Results suggest that aspects of alexithymia significantly predict functioning among these psychiatric groups, above and beyond the contributions of previously identified factors such as neurocognition and social cognition. Results may aid in developing proper interventions aimed at improving patients' ability to articulate their feelings.
Topics: Adult; Affective Symptoms; Bipolar Disorder; Female; Human Activities; Humans; Linear Models; Male; Mental Status and Dementia Tests; Middle Aged; Schizophrenic Psychology; Social Behavior
PubMed: 30658205
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2019.01.033 -
Psychiatria Danubina 2022The popularity of smart phones not only brings great convenience to people's lives, but also makes people more dependent on them. This study aims to explore the causes...
BACKGROUND
The popularity of smart phones not only brings great convenience to people's lives, but also makes people more dependent on them. This study aims to explore the causes of mobile phone addiction in adolescents and clarify its correlation with childhood abuse, neglect, and alexithymia.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
A total of 684 middle school students from Jingzhou City in China were selected as research participants to investigate the degree of childhood psychological abuse, neglect and alexithymia by using the "Child Psychological Abuse and Neglect Scale (CPANS)," "Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale (MPATS)," and "Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS)". According to survey results of mobile phone addiction, they were divided into the tendency group and the control group.
RESULTS
Students in the tendency group have shown higher scores in the dimensions of psychological abuse (scolding, intimidation and interference), neglect (emotional, education, physical/supervisory), compared to the control group. The total scores of psychological abuse and neglect were positively related to the total score of mobile phone addiction tendency. Students in the tendency group have shown higher scores in emotion identification difficulty, emotion description difficulty, extroversion thinking, and total scores of alexithymia than those of control group. The total score of alexithymia was positively related to the total score of mobile phone addiction tendency. Regression analysis has shown that childhood psychological abuse and neglect could significantly predict the mobile phone addiction status in students. Alexithymia could also significantly predict the mobile phone addiction status among the student sample.
CONCLUSION
Childhood abuse, neglect, and alexithymia were positively related to mobile phone addiction, and all of them had a significant regression-based predictive role regarding the mobile phone addiction in adolescents.
Topics: Humans; Adolescent; Child; Affective Symptoms; Physical Abuse; Emotions; Technology Addiction; Child Abuse; Cell Phone
PubMed: 36548877
DOI: 10.24869/psyd.2022.653 -
Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia 2017Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, relapsing skin disease that has a psychosocial impact on the patients' life.
BACKGROUND:
Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, relapsing skin disease that has a psychosocial impact on the patients' life.
OBJECTIVE:
This study aimed to investigate psychopathology in patients with psoriasis based on a valid psychometric instrument, as well as on the relationship between psychopathology and alexithymia.
METHODS:
108 patients with psoriasis were included in the study. Psychopathology was evaluated with the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and alexithymia with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Disease severity was clinically assessed using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index.
RESULTS:
As regards the psychopathological dimensions, female patients presented with statistically significant higher somatization, depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, and psychoticism than males. Patients with alexithymia presented with statistically significant higher somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, and phobic anxiety than non-alexithymic patients. Alexithymia positively correlated with somatization (r = 0.26, p < 0.01), interpersonal sensitivity (r = 0.24, p < 0.05), depression (r = 0.27, p < 0.01), anxiety (r = 0.26, p < 0.01), and phobic anxiety (r = 0.26, p < 0.01). In addition, alexithymia also contributed to the prediction of these conditions.
STUDY LIMITATIONS:
A larger study sample could yield safer generalized results. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, this was the first study to investigate various psychopathological dimensions in patients with psoriasis.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our study results indicate that alexithymia and female sex were associated with several psychopathological dimensions in patients with psoriasis. It may be suggested that alexithymia constitutes an important factor in the development of mental disorders among patients with psoriasis.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Affective Symptoms; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anxiety; Checklist; Depressive Disorder; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Psoriasis; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychological Tests; Sex Distribution; Young Adult
PubMed: 28954100
DOI: 10.1590/abd1806-4841.20175660 -
European Archives of Psychiatry and... Apr 2023Alexithymia is a common, but less-recognized affective deficit in patients with schizophrenia. To date, no definitive conclusions have been drawn about the relationship...
Alexithymia is a common, but less-recognized affective deficit in patients with schizophrenia. To date, no definitive conclusions have been drawn about the relationship between alexithymia and the clinical symptoms or their clinical correlates, particularly in stable patients with schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the link between alexithymia and psychopathological symptoms, as well as any associated correlates, in stable patients with schizophrenia. A total of 435 Chinese patients with schizophrenia were recruited. The Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate each patient's psychopathological symptoms. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was used to measure alexithymia. The percentage of alexithymia was 35.2% in stable patients with schizophrenia. Compared to non-alexithymia patients, patients with alexithymia had higher PANSS total scores, negative subscores, depressive subscores, and cognitive subscores (all p < 0.05). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the following variables were positively associated with TAS-20 total scores: PANSS negative subscores (β = 0.274, t = 3.198, p = 0.001) and PANSS depressive subscores (β = 0.366, t = 2.500, p = 0.013). Education years (β = - 0.453, t = - 2.824, p = 0.005) was negatively associated with TAS-20 total scores. Our results suggest that the percentage of alexithymia was relatively higher in stable patients with schizophrenia. Education levels, negative symptoms, and depressive symptoms were independently associated with alexithymia in this specific population.
Topics: Humans; Affective Symptoms; Psychopathology; Schizophrenia; East Asian People
PubMed: 36239818
DOI: 10.1007/s00406-022-01492-8 -
Behavioural Neurology 2019In this review, we explore current literature and assess evidence linking secondary (acquired) alexithymia to aberrant humor processing, in terms of their... (Review)
Review
In this review, we explore current literature and assess evidence linking secondary (acquired) alexithymia to aberrant humor processing, in terms of their neurobiological underpinnings. In addition, we suggest a possible common neuropathological substrate between secondary alexithymia and deficits in humor appreciation, by drawing on neurophysiologic and neuroradiological evidence, as well as on a recent and unique single-case study showing the cooccurrence of secondary alexithymia and deficit in humor appreciation. In summary, what emerges from the literature is that the cortical midline structures, in particular the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and the insular cortex, seem to play a crucial role in the expression of both alexithymia and defective humor processing, while though to a lesser extent, a right hemisphere and bilateral frontoparietal contribution becomes evident. Neurobiological evidence of secondary alexithymia and aberrant humor processing points to the putative role of ACC/mPFC and the insular cortex in representing crucial processing nodes whose damage may produce both the above clinical conditions. We believe that the association of secondary alexithymia and aberrant humor processing, especially humor appreciation deficit, and their correlation with specific brain regions, mainly ACG/mPFC, as emerged from the literature, may be of some heuristic importance. Increased awareness on this topic may be of aid for neurosurgeons when accessing emotion-relevant structures, as well as for neuropsychologists to intensify their efforts to plan evidence-based neurorehabilitative interventions to alleviate the deleterious effects of such interpersonal communication deficits.
Topics: Affective Symptoms; Brain; Brain Mapping; Cerebral Cortex; Emotions; Gyrus Cinguli; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Mental Disorders; Prefrontal Cortex; Wit and Humor as Topic
PubMed: 31396292
DOI: 10.1155/2019/1803624 -
Child Abuse & Neglect Dec 2023The relationship between childhood maltreatment and eating disorder psychopathology has been under-investigated.
BACKGROUND
The relationship between childhood maltreatment and eating disorder psychopathology has been under-investigated.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of alexithymia in mediating the relationship between childhood maltreatment experiences and eating disorder (ED) symptoms.
PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING
One-hundred-forty-three women with anorexia nervosa, 110 women with bulimia nervosa and 108 healthy women filled in the Eating Disorder Inventory-2, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20).
METHODS
A mediator path model including childhood trauma types as predictors, the subscales of the TAS-20 as mediators and ED specific symptoms as dependent variables was conducted in individuals with EDs and in healthy women.
RESULTS
In women with EDs emotional abuse was directly associated with body dissatisfaction and was associated to drive to thinness, bulimia and body dissatisfaction through the mediation of difficulties to identify emotions. In healthy women, physical neglect was directly associated to drive to thinness and bulimia, but no significant mediation effect through alexithymia emerged.
CONCLUSION
Impaired emotion recognition mediates the association between childhood emotional abuse and ED symptoms. Individuals with early emotional abuse may experience ED symptoms to manage confused emotional perceptions. Improving emotional understanding and acceptance may be a treatment target in early maltreated individuals with EDs.
Topics: Humans; Female; Child; Affective Symptoms; Bulimia; Thinness; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Child Abuse
PubMed: 37820393
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106496