Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Oct 31;31(5):343-352.
doi: 10.5607/en22030.

The Association of White Matter Tracts with Alexithymia among Individuals with Major Depressive Disorder

Youbin Kang  1 , Aram Kim  1 , Wooyoung Kang  1 , Kyu-Man Han  2 , Byoungjoo Ham  2
Affiliations

The Association of White Matter Tracts with Alexithymia among Individuals with Major Depressive Disorder

Youbin Kang et al. Exp Neurobiol. .

Abstract

Alexithymia is characterized by impairments in the processing of emotions. Although the disruptions in the white matter (WM) integrity in Major depressive disorder (MDD) has frequently been reported, the underlying relationship with alexithymia remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated WM tracts with Tracts Constrained by UnderLying Anatomy approach to discover potential associations between alexithymia and WM integrity to identify the neural basis of impaired emotional self-awareness in MDD. 101 patients with MDD and 99 healthy sex- and age-matched individuals underwent diffusion-weighted imaging. All participants were assessed with the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). TAS scores were significantly higher in MDD patients than in controls. Patients with MDD exhibited significantly lower FA values in the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus and it also showed negative associations with TAS. These results contribute to the neurobiological evidence on the association between MDD and alexithymia. Additionally, they suggest that reduced white matter integrity in the regions constitutes a principal pathophysiology underlying impaired emotional recognition and description in MDD.

Keywords: Alexithymia; Inferior longitudinal fasciculus; Probabilistic tractography; Superior longitudinal fasciculus; TAS-20; White matter.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Region of significant reduction in MDD patients compared with healthy controls. The left inferior longitudinal fasciculus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. National Institute of Mental Health, author. Major depression [Internet] National Institutes of Health; Bethesda (MD): 2022. Available from: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression .
    1. Sifneos PE. The prevalence of 'alexithymic' characteristics in psychosomatic patients. Psychother Psychosom. 1973;22:255–262. doi: 10.1159/000286529. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Celikel FC, Kose S, Erkorkmaz U, Sayar K, Cumurcu BE, Cloninger CR. Alexithymia and temperament and character model of personality in patients with major depressive disorder. Compr Psychiatry. 2010;51:64–70. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2009.02.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ho NS, Wong MM, Lee TM. Neural connectivity of alexithymia: Specific association with major depressive disorder. J Affect Disord. 2016;93:362–372. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.12.057. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Li S, Zhang B, Guo Y, Zhang J. The association between alexithymia as assessed by the 20-item Toronto alexithymia scale and depression: a meta-analysis. Psychiatry Res. 2015;227:1–9. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2015.02.006. - DOI - PubMed