Goerlich Katharina S, Votinov Mikhail
Cognitive Neuroscience Center, Department of Biomedical Sciences of Cells and Systems, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 10, Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.
Front Psychiatry. 2023 Jan 9;13:1070066. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1070066. eCollection 2022.
Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulties in emotion recognition and regulation that is associated with deficits in social cognition. High alexithymia levels are considered a transdiagnostic risk factor for a range of psychiatric and medical conditions, including depression, anxiety, and autism. Hormones are known to affect social-emotional cognition and behavior in humans, including the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin, the steroid hormones testosterone and estradiol, the stress hormone cortisol as well as thyroid hormones. However, few studies have investigated hormonal effects on alexithymia and on alexithymia-related impairments in emotion regulation and reactivity, stress response, and social cognition. Here, we provide a brief overview of the evidence linking alexithymia to abnormalities in hormone levels, particularly with regard to cortisol and oxytocin, for which most evidence exists, and to thyroid hormones. We address the current lack of research on the influence of sex hormones on alexithymia and alexithymia-related deficits, and lastly provide future directions for research on associations between hormonal abnormalities and deficits in emotion regulation and social cognition associated with alexithymia.
述情障碍是一种人格特质，其特征在于情绪识别和调节困难，与社会认知缺陷有关。高度述情障碍被认为是一系列精神和医学病症的跨诊断风险因素，包括抑郁症、焦虑症和自闭症。已知激素会影响人类的社会情感认知和行为，包括神经肽催产素和加压素、类固醇激素睾酮和雌二醇、应激激素皮质醇以及甲状腺激素。然而，很少有研究调查激素对述情障碍以及与述情障碍相关的情绪调节和反应性、应激反应和社会认知损害的影响。在此，我们简要概述将述情障碍与激素水平异常联系起来的证据，特别是关于皮质醇和催产素（现有证据最多）以及甲状腺激素的证据。我们讨论了目前关于性激素对述情障碍和与述情障碍相关缺陷影响的研究不足，最后为激素异常与述情障碍相关的情绪调节和社会认知缺陷之间关联的研究提供了未来方向。
