Neural substrates of affective face recognition in alexithymia: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Byeong Taek Lee; Hwa Young Lee; Sae Ah Park; Jin Young Lim; Woo Suk Tae; Min Soo Lee; Sook Haeng Joe; In Kwa Jung; Byung Joo Ham

doi:10.1159/000318086

Neural substrates of affective face recognition in alexithymia: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Byeong Taek Lee, Hwa Young Lee, Sae Ah Park, Jin Young Lim, Woo Suk Tae, Min Soo Lee, Sook Haeng Joe, In Kwa Jung, Byung Joo Ham

Department of Biomedical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Alexithymia is a condition characterized by deficits in cognitive processing and the regulation of emotions. Several theories have been proposed for the underlying neurobiology, but the etiology of alexithymia remains unclear. Methods: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated brain activation measured on the scale of alexithymia in 38 individuals who were presented with neutral, sad, or angry affective facial stimuli. Results: We found significant inverse correlations between the degree of alexithymia represented by the Korean version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K) and the intensity of the neural response to angry facial stimuli over neutral facial stimuli in the right caudate. This result was mainly due to the activations in factor 2 (difficulty describing feelings) in TAS-20K scale. Conclusions: The results suggest that functional impairments in the caudate of the fronto-striatal circuitry may play important roles in the pathophysiology of alexithymia.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	119-124
Number of pages	6
Journal	Neuropsychobiology
Volume	63
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1159/000318086
Publication status	Published - 2011 Jan

Keywords

Alexithymia
Facial stimuli
Functional magnetic resonance imaging

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
Psychiatry and Mental health
Biological Psychiatry

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1159/000318086

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title = "Neural substrates of affective face recognition in alexithymia: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study",

abstract = "Background: Alexithymia is a condition characterized by deficits in cognitive processing and the regulation of emotions. Several theories have been proposed for the underlying neurobiology, but the etiology of alexithymia remains unclear. Methods: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated brain activation measured on the scale of alexithymia in 38 individuals who were presented with neutral, sad, or angry affective facial stimuli. Results: We found significant inverse correlations between the degree of alexithymia represented by the Korean version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K) and the intensity of the neural response to angry facial stimuli over neutral facial stimuli in the right caudate. This result was mainly due to the activations in factor 2 (difficulty describing feelings) in TAS-20K scale. Conclusions: The results suggest that functional impairments in the caudate of the fronto-striatal circuitry may play important roles in the pathophysiology of alexithymia.",

keywords = "Alexithymia, Facial stimuli, Functional magnetic resonance imaging",

author = "Lee, {Byeong Taek} and Lee, {Hwa Young} and Park, {Sae Ah} and Lim, {Jin Young} and Tae, {Woo Suk} and Lee, {Min Soo} and Joe, {Sook Haeng} and Jung, {In Kwa} and Ham, {Byung Joo}",

year = "2011",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1159/000318086",

language = "English",

volume = "63",

pages = "119--124",

journal = "Neuropsychobiology",

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T1 - Neural substrates of affective face recognition in alexithymia

T2 - A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

AU - Lee, Byeong Taek

AU - Lee, Hwa Young

AU - Park, Sae Ah

AU - Lim, Jin Young

AU - Tae, Woo Suk

AU - Lee, Min Soo

AU - Joe, Sook Haeng

AU - Jung, In Kwa

AU - Ham, Byung Joo

PY - 2011/1

Y1 - 2011/1

N2 - Background: Alexithymia is a condition characterized by deficits in cognitive processing and the regulation of emotions. Several theories have been proposed for the underlying neurobiology, but the etiology of alexithymia remains unclear. Methods: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated brain activation measured on the scale of alexithymia in 38 individuals who were presented with neutral, sad, or angry affective facial stimuli. Results: We found significant inverse correlations between the degree of alexithymia represented by the Korean version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K) and the intensity of the neural response to angry facial stimuli over neutral facial stimuli in the right caudate. This result was mainly due to the activations in factor 2 (difficulty describing feelings) in TAS-20K scale. Conclusions: The results suggest that functional impairments in the caudate of the fronto-striatal circuitry may play important roles in the pathophysiology of alexithymia.

AB - Background: Alexithymia is a condition characterized by deficits in cognitive processing and the regulation of emotions. Several theories have been proposed for the underlying neurobiology, but the etiology of alexithymia remains unclear. Methods: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated brain activation measured on the scale of alexithymia in 38 individuals who were presented with neutral, sad, or angry affective facial stimuli. Results: We found significant inverse correlations between the degree of alexithymia represented by the Korean version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K) and the intensity of the neural response to angry facial stimuli over neutral facial stimuli in the right caudate. This result was mainly due to the activations in factor 2 (difficulty describing feelings) in TAS-20K scale. Conclusions: The results suggest that functional impairments in the caudate of the fronto-striatal circuitry may play important roles in the pathophysiology of alexithymia.

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Neural substrates of affective face recognition in alexithymia: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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