Neurobiological, Neuropsychological,Linguistic and Gestural Processes and Phenomena in Individuals With Alexithymia (ALEX)

Understanding Alexithymia

The syndrome of extremely restricted emotional competence, alexithymia, was originally conceptualized in psychoanalytic research and is now empirically and experimentally studied in clinical psychology and psychological medicine within the context of emotion regulation using neuroscientific techniques. Alexithymia refers to an individual's inability or impaired ability to name or express feelings and to distinguish them from the physical consequences of an acute or chronic stress reaction. Modern "brain-body-interface" research suggests that alexithymia represents a complex deficiency in cognitive processing and emotional regulatory processes. The neurobiological basis is assumed to be a preconscious, automatic and involuntary information transfer to the amygdalae of acquired representations of emotional contents stored in ventromedial prefrontal cortical areas.

Alexithymia is not just "emotional coldness", i.e. a limited emotionality, but essentially the detachment of feelings from language. In alexithymia the link between affective phenomena and language, understood as media-supported sign practices, is insufficient or even absent.

The purpose of our observational study is to better understand the neurobiological and neuropsychological as well as linguistic and gestural processes and determinants of this phenomenon

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Alexithymia

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 70

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Germany
  • Berlin, Germany, 14050
    • Charite-Dept. of Psychiatry-Campus Benjamin Franklin
    • Contact: Isabella JE Heuser, MD, PhD; Phone Number: ++493084458701; Email: isabella.heuser@charite.de
    • Contact: Claudia Crayen, MS; Phone Number: ++493083857839; Email: claudia.crayen@fu-berlin.de
    • Sub-Investigator: Malek Bajbouj, MD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

70 individuals between the ages of 18 and 60 years, both genders, who score high on an alexithymia questionaire (TAS-20) and who are otherwise emotionally and physically healthy. Individuals are sampled via newspaper and poster advertisements throughout the greater metropolitan area of Berlin, Germany

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• scoring high on the TAS-20

Exclusion Criteria:

• personal history of a mental disorder
• currently mentally ill

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Case-Only
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Charite University, Berlin, Germany

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2009
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): August 1, 2009
• Study Completion (Anticipated): December 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 27, 2009
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 27, 2009
• First Posted (Estimate): January 28, 2009

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 28, 2009
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 27, 2009
• Last Verified: January 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: alexithymia
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Affective Symptoms
• Other Study ID Numbers: ALEX 2009