Background

Alexithymia is a cognitive-affective impairment, suggested to be associated with emotion regulation. Herein, we investigated white matter (WM) tracts with Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DMRI) connectometry approach using quantitative anisotropy (QA) tractography to discover possible associations between the emotion identification and regulation patterns and WM tracts.

Methods

DMRI data were acquired from 218 healthy subjects aging 39.15 ± 20.19 who filled the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) and emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ) from the LEMON dataset. Connectometry analysis was applied on WM tracts in DMRI images.

Results

DMRI connectometry analysis revealed a significant correlation between TAS identification score and increased microstructural connectivity in WM pathways, including the body of corpus callosum (CC), bilateral fornix, and left arcuate fasciculus (AF) in males (FDR = 0.028), and corticospinal and cingulum tracts in females (FDR = 0.026). Furthermore, we found a significant positive correlation between overall TAS score and fornix properties in men (FDR = 0.026) and corticospinal tracts in women (FDR = 0.028). Middle cerebellar peduncle negatively correlated with describing emotion (FDR = 0.025) and the splenium of the CC and corticospinal tracts negatively correlated with this subscale (FDR = 0.049) in male group. However, the splenium of the CC, corticospinal tracts, and left AF positively associated with this subscale (FDR = 0.029). The splenium of the CC was negatively related to externally-oriented thinking among men (FDR = 0.038). Our results showed marginally associations between ERQ and similar WM tracts.

Conclusion

Certain WM microstructures significantly correlate with emotion identification and regulation. These tracts are associated with specific somatosensory areas, language processing areas, and limbic area.

中文翻译：

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与述情障碍和情绪调节相关的白质束：扩散 MRI 研究

背景

述情障碍是一种认知情感障碍，被认为与情绪调节有关。在这里，我们使用扩散磁共振成像 (DMRI) 连接测量方法使用定量各向异性 (QA) 纤维束成像研究了白质 (WM) 束，以发现情绪识别和调节模式与 WM 束之间可能存在的关联。

方法

DMRI 数据来自 218 名年龄为 39.15 ± 20.19 岁的健康受试者，他们填写了来自 LEMON 数据集的多伦多述情障碍量表 (TAS) 和情绪调节问卷 (ERQ)。连接测量分析应用于 DMRI 图像中的 WM 束。

结果

DMRI 连接测量分析显示 TAS 识别评分与 WM 通路中增加的微结构连接性之间存在显着相关性，包括男性胼胝体 (CC)、双侧穹窿和左弓状束 (AF) (FDR = 0.028)，以及皮质脊髓和女性的扣带回 (FDR = 0.026)。此外，我们发现男性的总体 TAS 评分与穹窿特性（FDR = 0.026）和女性的皮质脊髓束（FDR = 0.028）之间存在显着的正相关。在男性组中，小脑中脚与描述情绪呈负相关（FDR = 0.025），CC 压部和皮质脊髓束与该分量表呈负相关（FDR = 0.049）。然而，CC 压部、皮质脊髓束和左房颤与该分量表呈正相关（FDR = 0.029）。CC 的压部与男性的外向思维呈负相关（FDR = 0.038）。我们的结果显示 ERQ 和类似的 WM 区域之间存在轻微关联。

结论

某些 WM 微观结构与情绪识别和调节显着相关。这些区域与特定的体感区域、语言处理区域和边缘区域相关联。