White matter tracts associated with alexithymia and emotion regulation: A diffusion MRI study

Homa Seyedmirzaei, Mahan Shafie, Amirhosein Kargar, Ali Golbahari, Motahareh Bijarchian, Sepide Ahmadi, Alireza Shahmohammadi, Mohammad Sadeghi, Mohammad Hadi Aarabi, Mahsa Mayeli
Journal of Affective Disorders. 2022-10-01; 314: 271-280
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.07.039

1. J Affect Disord. 2022 Oct 1;314:271-280. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.07.039. Epub
2022 Jul 22.

White matter tracts associated with alexithymia and emotion regulation: A
diffusion MRI study.

Seyedmirzaei H(1), Shafie M(2), Kargar A(1), Golbahari A(1), Bijarchian M(1),
Ahmadi S(1), Shahmohammadi A(1), Sadeghi M(1), Aarabi MH(3), Mayeli M(4).

Author information:
(1)NeuroTRACT Association, Students’ Scientific Research Center, Tehran
University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
(2)NeuroTRACT Association, Students’ Scientific Research Center, Tehran
University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; School of Medicine, Tehran
University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Iranian Center of Neurological
Research, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences,
Tehran, Iran.
(3)Department of Neuroscience (DNS), Padova Neuroscience Center, University of
Padova, Padua, Italy. Electronic address: .
(4)NeuroTRACT Association, Students’ Scientific Research Center, Tehran
University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; School of Medicine, Tehran
University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Iranian Center of Neurological
Research, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences,
Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: .

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.