OBJECTIVE To review neurobiological studies of alexithymia in order to achieve a better understanding of the relationship between alexithymia and psychosomatic diseases and psychiatric illnesses. METHODS Neurobiological studies of alexithymia were reviewed with a special focus on how emotional and cognitive elements of alexithymia are reflected in earlier research. RESULTS Studies that have...

OBJECTIVE A modified autonomous response (e.g., electrodermal activity) in subjects with alexithymia (a reduced ability to identify and communicate emotions) while processing emotional information is well known. However, the functional and neurobiological bases of this impairment are unclear. Do subjects with alexithymia suffer from a primary lack of perception ("emotional blindness"), or is al...

Prior studies of alexithymia in chronic pain patients have used unvalidated alexithymia measures or have not controlled for treatment-seeking status. In this study, we compared 30 patients with chronic pain and patients seeking treatment for two other problems: nicotine dependence (n = 32) or moderate obesity (n = 25). Alexithymia was assessed with the well-validated Toronto Alexithymia Scale (...

Whilst alexithymia has been consistently linked to somatization, two prominent theoretical models lead to opposite predictions as to which of two proposed typologies of alexithymia will be particularly associated with somatic symptom reporting. In the present study, participants were recruited from a cross-section of the general adult population (n=301), and asked to complete a battery of self-...

This article presents three studies examining whether alexithymia is associated with less perceived and network social support, whether such relationships are accounted for by reduced social skills associated with alexithymia, and whether limited social support links alexithymia to health problems. The relationships between alexithymia (Toronto Alexithymia Scale), social variables, and physical...

Alexithymia is a personality construct denoting emotion processing problems. It has been suggested to encompass two dimensions: a cognitive and affective dimension. The cognitive dimension is characterized by difficulties in identifying, verbalizing and analyzing emotions, while the affective dimension reflects the level of emotional arousal and imagination. Alexithymia has been previously prop...

The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of alexithymia in an elderly Finnish population sample. Associations between alexithymia and sociodemographic factors were investigated, together with the relationship between alexithymia and perceived somatic health and self-reported psychic health. The study forms a part of the Turun Vanhustutkimus (TUR-VA) project, which is a longitudinal,...

BACKGROUND Alexithymia is characterised by difficulties identifying and describing emotions. Few studies have investigated how alexithymia influences decision-making under different conditions (ambiguity and risk). This study aimed to examine whether alexithymia contributes to impairment in decision-making. METHOD This study included 42 participants with high scores in the Chinese version of ...

The number of articles on alexithymia has been steadily increasing since the word "alexithymia" was coined in the 1970s to denote a common characteristic that is observed among classic psychosomatic patients in whom therapy was unsuccessful. Alexithymia, a disorder of affect regulation, has been suggested to be broadly associated with various mental and physical health problems. However, most a...

All human beings experience emotion. However a number of individuals have difficulties recognising, processing and regulating their emotions. This set of emotional "deficits' is classified as alexithymia. The prevalence rate of alexithymia in alcohol use disorders is between 45 and 67%. The objective of this paper is to review the published research on alexithymia and alcohol use, assess the me...