The psychophysiological mechanisms of alexithymia in autism spectrum disorder
Abstract
Accumulating evidence indicates that co-occurring alexithymia underlies several facets of the social-emotional difficulties common in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. The mechanisms involved, however, remain poorly understood because measuring alexithymia relies heavily on self-report. To address this issue, carefully matched groups of individuals with autism spectrum disorder and comparison participants rated 70 emotion-inducing pictures on subjectively experienced arousal while skin conductance responses were monitored objectively. The results demonstrated reliable correlations between these subjective and objective measures, and in both groups, around 25% of individual differences in this correlation (i.e. in emotion-relevant interoception) were accounted for by self-reported alexithymia. In the context of the wider literature, this suggests that alexithymia involves a disruption in how physiological arousal modulates the subjective experience of feelings in those with and without a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Since mindfulness-based therapies foster greater awareness of thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations, the findings also have implications for how the symptoms and consequences of alexithymia (e.g. anxiety) might be ameliorated.
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A growing literature has highlighted the importance of diagnosing comorbid alexithymia, which may explain some socioemotional and communicative deficits of autism and be worthy of targeted intervention.
“A growing literature has highlighted the importance of diagnosing comorbid alexithymia, which may explain some of the socioemotional and communicative deficits of autism and be worthy of targeted intervention [78–83].”
From A 'choice', an 'addiction', a way 'out of the lost': Exploring self-injury in autistic people without intellectual disability (2019) · cites this paper as [81]
The Introduction (p. 4) says co-morbid alexithymia accounts for several social-emotional difficulties associated with autism, and the Discussion (p. 13) suggests mindfulness-based therapy may help people with ASD and alexithymia. The paper does not specifically establish that alexithymia explains communicative deficits or call for diagnosing it, although it discusses difficulties with its measurement. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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- Authors
- Gaigg, S. B., Cornell, A. S., & Bird, G.
- Affiliations
- City, University of London (GB)
- King's College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Gaigg, Sebastian B
- Venue
- Autism
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-11-02
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 227-231
- ISSN
- 1362-3613 (ISSN-L)
- 1461-7005
- OpenAlex
- W2515981343
- Cited by
- 142
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 7.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Autism (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- City Research Online (City University London) (acceptedVersion)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (Biomedical Vacation Scholarship)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Keywords
- alexithymia, autism spectrum disorder, psychophysiological mechanisms, skin conductance response, subjective arousal, interoception, emotion regulation, mindfulness-based interventions, anxiety
- MeSH terms
- Autism Spectrum Disorder, Adult, Affective Symptoms, Emotions, Female, Galvanic Skin Response, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Photic Stimulation, Case-Control Studies
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