Distinct associations of insula and cingulate volume with the cognitive and affective dimensions of alexithymia

• Published in: Neuropsychologia Vol. 53; pp. 284 - 292
• Main Authors: Goerlich-Dobre, Katharina Sophia, Bruce, Lori, Martens, Sander, Aleman, André, Hooker, Christine I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Affect; Affective; Affective Symptoms - diagnosis; Affective Symptoms - pathology; Alexithymia dimensions; Biological and medical sciences; Cerebral Cortex - pathology; Cingulate cortex; Cognition; Cognitive; Female; Gyrus Cinguli - pathology; Humans; Insula; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Nerve Fibers, Unmyelinated - pathology; Organ Size; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires; Voxel-based morphometry; Young Adult; Insula; Cognitive; Cingulate cortex; Affective; Voxel-based morphometry; Alexithymia dimensions; Human; Affect affectivity; Volumetric analysis; Central nervous system; Alexithymia; Personality; Cognition; Encephalon; Morphometry; Insular cortex

Alexithymia (“no words for feelings”) is a major risk factor for psychosomatic and psychiatric conditions characterized by affect dysregulation. The alexithymia personality construct comprises an affective dimension, the level of subjective emotional experience (emotionalizing and fantasizing), and...