Child Abuse Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Child Abuse, including details on family violence, examinations, long-term effects, psychiatrics disorders.

Alexithymia in PTSD: psychometric and FMRI studies.

Frewen PA, Pain C, Dozois DJ, Lanius RA

London Health Sciences Centre, 339 Windermere Road, PO Box 5339, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5A5.

Two studies examined correlates of alexithymia in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In study 1 (n = 77 individuals with PTSD and 45 controls) Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-20) scores were positively correlated with PTSD symptoms, dissociation, and childhood abuse and neglect. In study 2, TAS-20 scores were examined as correlates of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response to trauma script imagery. In 16 controls, TAS-20 scores correlated positively with response in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and negatively with response in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and thalamus. In 26 individuals with PTSD, TAS-20 scores correlated positively with response in insula, posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and thalamus, and negatively with response in ACC.

Published 7 August 2006 in Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1071: 397-400.
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