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Alexithymia and the split brain. V. EEG alpha-band interhemispheric coherence analysis.
W D TenHouten1, D O Walter, K D Hoppe
1Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles.
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
|January 1, 1987
Summary
Brain surgery severing connections between hemispheres (callosotomy) reduced brain communication, leading to increased alexithymia, a difficulty in expressing emotions. This impacts how individuals process and verbalize feelings.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Alexithymia is characterized by difficulty identifying and expressing emotions.
- Cerebral commissures facilitate interhemispheric communication, crucial for integrating affective and verbal processing.
- Callosotomy, the surgical severance of cerebral commissures, may impair this integration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between callosotomy, interhemispheric communication, and alexithymia.
- To test the hypothesis that reduced interhemispheric communication increases alexithymia.
Main Methods:
- Electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings were analyzed in patients with varying degrees of callosotomy and in normal controls.
- Alpha-band EEG coherence was measured to assess interhemispheric communication.
- Path and covariance structure analyses were used to model relationships between callosotomy, coherence, and alexithymia.
Main Results:
- Callosotomy significantly decreased interhemispheric EEG coherence, particularly in the alpha band.
- Reduced interhemispheric coherence was directly associated with increased alexithymia.
- These findings held true for both overall indices and latent variables of alexithymia.
Conclusions:
- Severing the corpus callosum impairs interhemispheric communication, leading to alexithymia.
- This suggests a critical role for intact brain connectivity in emotional processing and verbal expression.
- The study highlights the neurobiological underpinnings of alexithymia.