EEG Asymmetry and Coherence in Alexithymic Individuals

Alexithymia is thought to reflect deficits in the cognitive processing and regulation of emotions. Several theories have been proposed for the underlying neurobiology, but the etiology of alexithymia is still unclear. One hundred and thirty nurse volunteers at Inje University Hospital, Korea, were screened in small groups for levels of alexithymia using the Korean version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K). Coherence analysis was performed on the EEG recordings. The most interesting findings were that alexithymics had lower interhemispheric coherence values in the bilateral interior frontal and central areas and lower intrahemispheric coherence values in the interior fronto-occipital and parieto-central areas compared to non-alexithymics. These results support the interhemispheric transfer deficit model of alexithymia.