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Alexithymia, gender, and hemispheric functioning.

M A Lumley1, K Sielky

  • 1Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA.

Comprehensive Psychiatry
|September 30, 2000
PubMed
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Alexithymia may stem from right hemisphere issues in men, but not women. For women, poor short-term memory, not brain function, predicted interhemispheric transfer deficits.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Alexithymia, characterized by difficulty identifying and describing emotions, is hypothesized to involve right hemisphere dysfunction or impaired interhemispheric communication.
  • Previous research suggests potential links between alexithymia and hemispheric processing, but findings across sexes remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between alexithymia, hemispheric functioning, and interhemispheric transfer in a nonclinical sample.
  • To examine sex differences in the neural correlates of alexithymia.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) to assess alexithymia traits.
  • Employed the tactile finger localization task to evaluate right and left hemisphere performance and interhemispheric transfer.
  • Assessed short-term memory capacity, including digit span backwards.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • In men, TAS-20 scores correlated with poorer right hemisphere performance and reduced interhemispheric transfer, supporting hemispheric hypotheses.
  • Short-term memory was not significantly related to alexithymia in men.
  • In women, alexithymia was unrelated to hemispheric functioning; however, poorer short-term memory predicted impaired interhemispheric transfer.

Conclusions:

  • Right hemisphere function and interhemispheric transfer deficits may contribute to alexithymia in men.
  • The neural underpinnings of alexithymia appear to differ between sexes, with short-term memory playing a more significant role in women's interhemispheric transfer.