Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Interhemispheric transfer deficit and alexithymia.

S B Zeitlin1, R D Lane, D S O'Leary

  • 1Department of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Health Sciences Chicago Medical, IL 60064.

The American Journal of Psychiatry
|November 1, 1989
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Emotion word repertoire in the adult attachment interview predicts a reduction of non-suicidal self-injury in the psychotherapy of borderline personality disorder.

BMC psychiatry·2025
Same author

Emotion word repertoire in the adult attachment interview is linked to reduced suicide attempts in patients with borderline personality disorder.

Heliyon·2024
Same author

Translational neurocardiology: preclinical models and cardioneural integrative aspects.

The Journal of physiology·2016
Same author

Cardiac output is not a significant source of low frequency mean arterial pressure variability.

Physiological measurement·2013
Same author

I know the pain you feel-how the human brain's default mode predicts our resonance to another's suffering.

Neuroscience·2010
Same author

Auditory and visual attention assessed with PET.

Human brain mapping·2010

This study suggests that alexithymia, a condition characterized by difficulty identifying and describing emotions, may stem from impaired communication between the brain's hemispheres. This finding was observed in combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulties in identifying and describing emotions.
  • Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with various cognitive and emotional dysregulations.
  • A potential link between alexithymia and interhemispheric communication has been hypothesized.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the hypothesis that alexithymia is associated with functional disconnection between the cerebral hemispheres.
  • To examine this relationship in a sample of male combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD.

Main Methods:

  • Employed multiple regression analysis to assess the relationship between interhemispheric communication efficiency and alexithymia.
  • Interhemispheric communication was evaluated using a tactile finger localization task.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Alexithymia was measured using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale.
  • Controlled for PTSD severity and IQ.

    • Main Results:

    • The efficiency of interhemispheric communication significantly predicted the degree of alexithymia.
    • This association remained significant even after accounting for PTSD severity and IQ.
    • No significant differences in finger localization tasks were found between PTSD subjects without alexithymia and control subjects without alexithymia.

    Conclusions:

    • The findings suggest that impaired interhemispheric communication may underlie certain forms of alexithymia.
    • This deficit in brain connectivity could be a contributing factor to alexithymia in individuals with PTSD.
    • Further research is warranted to explore the neural mechanisms of alexithymia.