Alexithymia and emotional reactions to odors

Abstract Alexithymia is a psychological construct characterized by deficits in processing emotional stimuli. However, little is known about the processing of odours in alexithymia, even though there is extensive proof that emotion and olfaction are closely linked. The present study is aimed at inves...

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Auteurs principaux:	Cinzia Cecchetto, Raffaella Ida Rumiati, Marilena Aiello
Format:	article
Langue:	EN
Publié:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Sujets:	Medicine R Science Q
Accès en ligne:	https://doaj.org/article/b01dae418ba9485d9ce2b7559ac3da9f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b01dae418ba9485d9ce2b7559ac3da9f2021-12-02T11:40:59ZAlexithymia and emotional reactions to odors10.1038/s41598-017-14404-x2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/b01dae418ba9485d9ce2b7559ac3da9f2017-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-14404-xhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Alexithymia is a psychological construct characterized by deficits in processing emotional stimuli. However, little is known about the processing of odours in alexithymia, even though there is extensive proof that emotion and olfaction are closely linked. The present study is aimed at investigating how alexithymic individuals process emotions conveyed by odors. Emotional responses to unpleasant, neutral odors and clean air were collected through self-report ratings and psychophysiological measures in a sample of 62 healthy participants with high (HA), medium (MA) and low (LA) levels of alexithymia. Moreover, participants performed tests on odors identification and threshold and completed questionnaires assessing olfactory imagery and awareness. Two main results have been found: first, HA and MA groups showed altered physiological responses to odors, compared to LA, while no differences among the groups were observed in odor ratings; and second, affective and cognitive alexithymia components were differently associated with the performance on olfactory tests, skin conductance response to odors, reaction times in the rating task, and scores on olfactory questionnaires. We conclude that alexithymia is characterized by altered physiological reactions to olfactory stimuli; moreover, we stress the importance of evaluating the different alexithymia components since they affect emotional stimuli processing in different ways.Cinzia CecchettoRaffaella Ida RumiatiMarilena AielloNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Cinzia Cecchetto Raffaella Ida Rumiati Marilena Aiello Alexithymia and emotional reactions to odors
description	Abstract Alexithymia is a psychological construct characterized by deficits in processing emotional stimuli. However, little is known about the processing of odours in alexithymia, even though there is extensive proof that emotion and olfaction are closely linked. The present study is aimed at investigating how alexithymic individuals process emotions conveyed by odors. Emotional responses to unpleasant, neutral odors and clean air were collected through self-report ratings and psychophysiological measures in a sample of 62 healthy participants with high (HA), medium (MA) and low (LA) levels of alexithymia. Moreover, participants performed tests on odors identification and threshold and completed questionnaires assessing olfactory imagery and awareness. Two main results have been found: first, HA and MA groups showed altered physiological responses to odors, compared to LA, while no differences among the groups were observed in odor ratings; and second, affective and cognitive alexithymia components were differently associated with the performance on olfactory tests, skin conductance response to odors, reaction times in the rating task, and scores on olfactory questionnaires. We conclude that alexithymia is characterized by altered physiological reactions to olfactory stimuli; moreover, we stress the importance of evaluating the different alexithymia components since they affect emotional stimuli processing in different ways.
format	article
author	Cinzia Cecchetto Raffaella Ida Rumiati Marilena Aiello
author_facet	Cinzia Cecchetto Raffaella Ida Rumiati Marilena Aiello
author_sort	Cinzia Cecchetto
title	Alexithymia and emotional reactions to odors
title_short	Alexithymia and emotional reactions to odors
title_full	Alexithymia and emotional reactions to odors
title_fullStr	Alexithymia and emotional reactions to odors
title_full_unstemmed	Alexithymia and emotional reactions to odors
title_sort	alexithymia and emotional reactions to odors
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/b01dae418ba9485d9ce2b7559ac3da9f
work_keys_str_mv	AT cinziacecchetto alexithymiaandemotionalreactionstoodors AT raffaellaidarumiati alexithymiaandemotionalreactionstoodors AT marilenaaiello alexithymiaandemotionalreactionstoodors
_version_	1718395479506550784

Alexithymia and emotional reactions to odors

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