Grabe Hans Joergen, Möller Bertram, Willert Carsten, Spitzer Carsten, Rizos Tim, Freyberger Harald Juergen
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald/Stralsund, Germany.
Psychother Psychosom. 2004 Mar-Apr;73(2):117-23. doi: 10.1159/000075543.
This study investigates the hypothesis that alexithymia is associated with an interhemispheric transfer deficit via the corpus callosum (CC).
The transcallosal inhibition paradigm was used to assess interhemispheric transfer. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and peripheral electromyographic recordings were performed in 10 right-handed male and 10 female students with Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) scores of > or = 61 and controls (TAS-20 scores of < 61). The transcallosal conduction time (TCT) reflects the TMS-induced inhibitory cortical activity that is mediated via the CC.
There was a significant interaction between gender and alexithymia (Wilks lambda = 0.89; F = 3.4; d.f. = 2, 57; p = 0.04) indicating that alexithymic males had shorter bidirectional TCTs than controls and a significantly shorter left to right TCT than controls (p = 0.002). However, the left to right TCT was not significantly different from the right to left TCT in alexithymic males (p = 0.39). Alexithymic females were not different from controls.
Our results clearly stand in contrast to the hypothesis of a transfer deficit due to a dysfunction of the CC in alexithymia. Facilitated, bidirectional transcallosal inhibition of the contralateral motor activity is associated with alexithymia in males. Facilitated cortical inhibition may be a neurobiological correlate of alexithymia.
本研究调查了述情障碍与通过胼胝体（CC）的半球间传递缺陷相关的假设。
采用胼胝体抑制范式评估半球间传递。对10名右利手男性和10名女性学生进行经颅磁刺激（TMS）和外周肌电图记录，这些学生的多伦多述情障碍量表（TAS - 20）得分≥61，另有对照组（TAS - 20得分<61）。胼胝体传导时间（TCT）反映了经CC介导的TMS诱导的抑制性皮质活动。
性别与述情障碍之间存在显著交互作用（威尔克斯λ = 0.89；F = 3.4；自由度 = 2, 57；p = 0.04），表明述情障碍男性的双向TCT比对照组短，且从左到右的TCT明显比对照组短（p = 0.002）。然而，述情障碍男性从左到右的TCT与从右到左的TCT无显著差异（p = 0.39）。述情障碍女性与对照组无差异。
我们的结果明显与述情障碍中因CC功能障碍导致传递缺陷的假设相反。对男性而言，促进对侧运动活动的双向胼胝体抑制与述情障碍相关。促进性皮质抑制可能是述情障碍的神经生物学相关因素。
