No Words for Feelings? Not Only for My Own: Diminished Emotional Empathic Ability in Alexithymia

Overview

Journal Front Behav Neurosci

Specialty Psychology

Date 2020 Oct 16

PMID 33061894

Citations 4

Authors

Elif Alkan Hartwig

Sabine Aust

Hauke R Heekeren

Isabella Heuser

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The present study has been designed to disentangle cognitive and emotional dimensions of empathy in a group of mentally healthy and highly alexithymic individuals (ALEX, = 24) and well-matched controls ( = 26) through questionnaire Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and Multifaceted Empathy Task (MET) used during the fMRI and after the fMRI. Simultaneously, Skin Conductance Response (SCR) has been acquired as an implicit measure of emotional reaction. Results show an impaired emotional empathic ability in alexithymic individuals, with lower levels of SCR and higher activation in prefrontal brain regions such as the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Cognitive empathy was not impaired in the alexithymic group and the results were accompanied by a higher activation left IFG. The study leads to the conclusion that alexithymia does not only involve a diminished ability to identify and describe one's own emotions. Furthermore, it is related to a deeper disability of emotion regulation, which becomes visible through impaired emotional concern for others and higher levels of personal distress.

Citing Articles

On the Relationship Between Alexithymia and Social Cognition: A Systematic Review.

Di Tella M, Benfante A, Castelli L, Adenzato M, Ardito R Clin Neuropsychiatry. 2024; 21(4):236-265.

PMID: 39309025 PMC: 11411512. DOI: 10.36131/cnfioritieditore20240402.

Language or rating scales based classifications of emotions: computational analysis of language and alexithymia.

Sikstrom S, Nicolai M, Ahrendt J, Nevanlinna S, Stille L Npj Ment Health Res. 2024; 3(1):37.

PMID: 39085388 PMC: 11291691. DOI: 10.1038/s44184-024-00080-z.

Alexithymia and sensory processing sensitivity account for unique variance in the prediction of emotional contagion and empathy.

McQuarrie A, Smith S, Jakobson L Front Psychol. 2023; 14:1072783.

PMID: 37151350 PMC: 10157231. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1072783.

Disentangling interoceptive abilities in alexithymia.

Scarpazza C, Zangrossi A, Huang Y, Sartori G, Massaro S Psychol Res. 2021; 86(3):844-857.

PMID: 34097132 PMC: 8182733. DOI: 10.1007/s00426-021-01538-x.

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