Alexithymia and psychophysiological reactivity to emotional arousal stimuli

Abstract

We examined the psychophysiological reactions of alexithymic participants to emotion-provoking slides. Alexithymia was assessed using the TAS-26. Participants were 25 undergraduate students, who were divided into an alexithymic group (AT=12) and a non-alexithymic group (AT=13) according to TAS-26 scores. For 30 seconds, participants viewed slides designed to provoke positive or negative emotions, while their facial EMG (zygomatic major and corrugator supercilii) , HR, SBP and DBF were recorded. Participants' subjective feelings were assessed using a checklist. Results indicated that the alexithymic group had low reactivity in corrugator supercilii muscle, as well as low subjective appraisal of the displeasure resulting from slides provoking negative emotions. The alexithymic group showed high SBP reactivity and high corrugator supercilii muscle reactivity during the baseline session. The significance of these characteristics are discussed in terms of emotional information processing and the situational stress response. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)