Förster, K, Enneking, V, Dohm, K, Redlich, R, Meinert, S., Geisler, AI, Leehr, EJ, Kugel, H, Baune, BT, Arolt, V, Zwitserlood, P,, Grotegerd, D, & Dannlowski, U.
Forschungsartikel (Zeitschrift) | Peer reviewedBackground: Alexithymia is a risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD) and has been associated with diminished treatmentresponse. Neuroimaging studies have revealed structural aberrations of the anterior cingulate cortex and the fusiform gyrus in healthycontrols with high levels of alexithymia. The present study tried to corroborate and extend these results to patients with MDD comparedwith healthy controls. Methods: We investigated the relationship between alexithymia, depression and grey matter volume in 63 patientswith MDD (mean age ± standard deviation = 42.43 yr ± 11.91; 33 female) and 46 healthy controls (45.35 yr ± 8.37; 22 female).We assessed alexithymia using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. We conducted an alexithymia × group analysis of covariance; we used aregion-of-interest approach, including the fusiform gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex, and conducted whole brain analysis using voxelbasedmorphometry. Results: Our analysis revealed a significant alexithymia × group interaction in the fusiform gyrus (left, pFWE = 0.031;right, pFWE = 0.010). Higher alexithymia scores were associated with decreased grey matter volume in patients with MDD (pFWE = 0.009),but with increased grey matter volume of the fusiform gyrus in healthy controls (pFWE = 0.044). We found no significant main effects in theregion-of-interest analysis. Limitations: Owing to the naturalistic nature of our study, patients with MDD and healthy controls differedsignificantly in their alexithymia scores. Conclusion: Our results showed the fusiform gyrus as a correlate of alexithymia. We also founddifferences related to alexithymia between patients with MDD and healthy controls in the fusiform gyrus. Our study encourages researchrelated to the transition from risk to MDD in people with alexithymia.
Dannlowski, Udo | Klinik für Psychische Gesundheit |
Zwitserlood, Pienie | Professur für Psycholinguistik und kognitive Neurowissenschaft (Prof. Zwitserlood) |