Alexithymia is characterized by deficits in emotional self-awareness. A number of previous studies have revealed impaired emotional self-awareness in schizophrenia. Although the pathology of schizophrenia is thought to involve disrupted white matter integrity, its relationship with alexithymia remains unclear. The present study investigated associations between alexithymia and white matter integrity, to seek the neural basis of impaired emotional self-awareness in schizophrenia. Forty-four patients with schizophrenia and 44 age-, gender- and predicted IQ level-matched healthy controls underwent diffusion-weighted imaging. Alexithymia was assessed using the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). We applied tract-based spatial statistics to investigate the correlation between the TAS-20 total score and white matter fractional anisotropy (FA). TAS-20 scores were significantly higher in patients than in controls. In the patient group only, FA was negatively correlated with the TAS-20 total score in the corpus callosum, mostly the left part of the superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculi, the inferior occipito-frontal fasciculus, the anterior and posterior thalamic radiation, and the precuneus white matter. These results suggest that schizophrenia is associated with alexithymia, and that reduced white matter integrity within these regions constitutes an important pathology underlying impaired self-emotional awareness in schizophrenia.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2012.08.026DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

white matter
24
matter integrity
16
emotional self-awareness
16
impaired emotional
12
alexithymia reduced
8
reduced white
8
self-awareness schizophrenia
8
tas-20 total
8
total score
8
alexithymia
7

Similar Publications

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) of presumed vascular origin are a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based biomarker of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). WMH are associated with cognitive decline and increased risk of stroke and dementia, and are commonly observed in aging, vascular cognitive impairment, and neurodegenerative diseases. The reliable and rapid measurement of WMH in large-scale multisite clinical studies with heterogeneous patient populations remains challenging, where the diversity of imaging characteristics across studies adds additional complexity to this task.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Motor symptom laterality is an important clinical feature of PD that not only manifests as lateral limb dysfunction but also affects the nonmotor symptoms and the prognosis in PD patients. Previous studies suggested that the compensatory mechanisms in the dominant hemisphere of the brain may be an underlying explanation. The corpus callosum (CC) is the largest fiber connecting the two hemispheres of the brain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: The nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) is a major source of cholinergic innervation in the central nervous system. We aimed to investigate the characteristics of structural and functional alterations in the NBM and its projections in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and the effects of computerized cognitive training (CCT).

Methods: Forty-five patients with MCI and 45 cognitively unimpaired controls (CUCs) were recruited.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Children born very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks) are at increased risk of executive functioning (EF) difficulties. But less is known about the nature and extent of these executive difficulties during late adolescence, particularly across multiple EF domains and in response to varying degrees of executive demand.

Methods: Using data from a prospective longitudinal study, this paper describes the EF profiles of 92 VPT and 68 full-term (FT) adolescents at age 17 years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) frequently results in persistent cognitive, emotional, and functional impairments, closely linked to disruptions in the default mode network (DMN). Understanding the mechanisms driving these network abnormalities is critical for advancing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

Methods: This study adopted a multimodal approach, combining functional connectivity (FC) analysis, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and gene expression profiling to investigate DMN disruptions in mTBI.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!