Commentary: Alexithymia, not autism, is associated with impaired interoception

Frontiers in Psychology

Lucy A. Livingston¹ 

关键词: autism;    autism spectrum disorder;    interoception;    alexithymia;    emotional symptoms;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01103

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Alexithymia is characterized by difficulties in recognizing and reporting on one's own emotions (Nemiah et al., 1976). There is growing interest in alexithymia in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) since at least 50% of those with ASD experience co-occurring alexithymia (Hill et al., 2004). Impaired interoception, that is problems with perceiving one's internal bodily signals, is a candidate mechanism underlying alexithymia (Herbert et al., 2011). However, interoceptive difficulties have also been implicated in ASD. It is therefore contentious whether alexithymia, ASD or both are linked to poor interoception (Brewer et al., 2015). A new study published in Cortex addresses this issue, concluding that alexithymia, not autism, is related to interoceptive impairment (Shah et al., 2016). In light of this, the role of alexithymia in emotional and interoceptive difficulties in ASD and arising clinical implications are discussed.

【 授权许可】

CC BY