Alexithymia in healthy young men: a voxel-based morphometric study.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Psychology

Background:

• Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulty identifying and expressing emotions.
• Previous functional imaging studies suggest altered anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) function in alexithymia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate structural brain differences in individuals with high versus low alexithymia.
• To determine if altered functional anatomy in alexithymia is linked to specific structural changes in the whole brain and the ACC.

Main Methods:

• Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used on MRI scans of 33 high-alexithymic and 31 low-alexithymic young males.
• Voxel-wise comparisons and regression analyses with TAS-20 scores were performed to analyze group differences and correlations.

Main Results:

• No significant structural differences were found between high- and low-alexithymic subjects in whole-brain or ACC analyses.
• Correlation analyses also did not reveal significant associations between TAS-20 scores and brain structure.

Conclusions:

• The study did not find evidence for morphological differences underlying alexithymia.
• Known functional differences in alexithymia cannot be attributed to observable anatomical changes based on this research.
• The personality construct of alexithymia may be associated with fewer morphological abnormalities than previously hypothesized.