Assessing neurological pathologies in alexithymic patients

Abstract

The present study was aimed to investigate the neurological impairment of alexithymic patients. Twenty four volunteers (14 alexithymic, 10 non-alexithynic) were included in this study. All participants were asked to complete the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and then took a quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) test. Significant difference was found between the two groups (alexithymic and non-alexithymic) in terms of coherency and asymmetry. Occipital inter hemispheric coherency in alexithymic in the range of theta band was reduced. Alexithymic patients revealed increased asymmetry at occipital sites in the range of 3.5-12 Hz and 3.5-7 Hz at central sites. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.