Insula reactivity mediates subjective isolation stress in alexithymia

Abstract The risk for developing stress-related disorders is elevated in individuals with high alexithymia, a personality trait characterized by impaired emotional awareness and interpersonal relating. However, it is still unclear how alexithymia alters perceived psychosocial stress and which neurob...

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Autores principales:	Mitjan Morr, Jana Lieberz, Michael Dobbelstein, Alexandra Philipsen, René Hurlemann, Dirk Scheele
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/43b42122bebf4b49840a5aba3a512d88
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:43b42122bebf4b49840a5aba3a512d882021-12-02T16:25:00ZInsula reactivity mediates subjective isolation stress in alexithymia10.1038/s41598-021-94799-w2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/43b42122bebf4b49840a5aba3a512d882021-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94799-whttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The risk for developing stress-related disorders is elevated in individuals with high alexithymia, a personality trait characterized by impaired emotional awareness and interpersonal relating. However, it is still unclear how alexithymia alters perceived psychosocial stress and which neurobiological substrates are mechanistically involved. To address this question, we examined freshmen during transition to university, given that this period entails psychosocial stress and frequently initiates psychopathology. Specifically, we used a functional magnetic resonance imaging emotional face matching task to probe emotional processing in 54 participants (39 women) at the beginning of the first year at university and 6 months later. Furthermore, we assessed alexithymia and monitored perceived psychosocial stress and loneliness via questionnaires for six consecutive months. Perceived psychosocial stress significantly increased over time and initial alexithymia predicted subjective stress experiences via enhanced loneliness. On the neural level, alexithymia was associated with lowered amygdala responses to emotional faces, while loneliness correlated with diminished reactivity in the anterior insular and anterior cingulate cortex. Furthermore, insula activity mediated the association between alexithymia and loneliness that predicted perceived psychosocial stress. Our findings are consistent with the notion that alexithymia exacerbates subjective stress via blunted insula reactivity and increased perception of social isolation.Mitjan MorrJana LieberzMichael DobbelsteinAlexandra PhilipsenRené HurlemannDirk ScheeleNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Mitjan Morr Jana Lieberz Michael Dobbelstein Alexandra Philipsen René Hurlemann Dirk Scheele Insula reactivity mediates subjective isolation stress in alexithymia
description	Abstract The risk for developing stress-related disorders is elevated in individuals with high alexithymia, a personality trait characterized by impaired emotional awareness and interpersonal relating. However, it is still unclear how alexithymia alters perceived psychosocial stress and which neurobiological substrates are mechanistically involved. To address this question, we examined freshmen during transition to university, given that this period entails psychosocial stress and frequently initiates psychopathology. Specifically, we used a functional magnetic resonance imaging emotional face matching task to probe emotional processing in 54 participants (39 women) at the beginning of the first year at university and 6 months later. Furthermore, we assessed alexithymia and monitored perceived psychosocial stress and loneliness via questionnaires for six consecutive months. Perceived psychosocial stress significantly increased over time and initial alexithymia predicted subjective stress experiences via enhanced loneliness. On the neural level, alexithymia was associated with lowered amygdala responses to emotional faces, while loneliness correlated with diminished reactivity in the anterior insular and anterior cingulate cortex. Furthermore, insula activity mediated the association between alexithymia and loneliness that predicted perceived psychosocial stress. Our findings are consistent with the notion that alexithymia exacerbates subjective stress via blunted insula reactivity and increased perception of social isolation.
format	article
author	Mitjan Morr Jana Lieberz Michael Dobbelstein Alexandra Philipsen René Hurlemann Dirk Scheele
author_facet	Mitjan Morr Jana Lieberz Michael Dobbelstein Alexandra Philipsen René Hurlemann Dirk Scheele
author_sort	Mitjan Morr
title	Insula reactivity mediates subjective isolation stress in alexithymia
title_short	Insula reactivity mediates subjective isolation stress in alexithymia
title_full	Insula reactivity mediates subjective isolation stress in alexithymia
title_fullStr	Insula reactivity mediates subjective isolation stress in alexithymia
title_full_unstemmed	Insula reactivity mediates subjective isolation stress in alexithymia
title_sort	insula reactivity mediates subjective isolation stress in alexithymia
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/43b42122bebf4b49840a5aba3a512d88
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Insula reactivity mediates subjective isolation stress in alexithymia

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