Neurocognitive correlates of alexithymia in asymptomatic individuals with HIV

Alexithymia, an impairment of affective and cognitive emotional processing, is often associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and may reflect effects of the virus on brain areas that are also important for multiple cognitive functions, such as the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices...

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Published in:Neuropsychologia Vol. 48; no. 5; pp. 1295 - 1304
Main Authors: Bogdanova, Yelena, Díaz-Santos, Mirella, Cronin-Golomb, Alice
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2010
Elsevier
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Affective Symptoms - diagnosis
Affective Symptoms - epidemiology
Affective Symptoms - psychology
Anterior cingulate
Apathy
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - physiopathology
CD4 Antigens - blood
Cognition
Cognition Disorders - diagnosis
Cognition Disorders - epidemiology
Cognition Disorders - physiopathology
Emotion
Female
Frontostriatal
HIV Infections - blood
HIV Infections - epidemiology
Human viral diseases
Humans
Immunodeficiencies
Immunodeficiencies. Immunoglobulinopathies
Immunopathology
Infectious diseases
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Nadir CD4 cell count
Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Quality of Life - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Viral diseases
Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids
Apathy
Frontostriatal
Anterior cingulate
Cognition
Nadir CD4 cell count
Emotion
Affect affectivity
Central nervous system
Asymptomatic
Frontal cortex
Encephalon
Cingulate cortex
Human
Immunopathology
Alexithymia
Retroviridae
AIDS
Basal ganglion
Personality
Corpus striatum
Emotion emotionality
Immune deficiency
Lentivirus
Infection
Virus
Viral disease
Human immunodeficiency virus
frontostriatal
emotion
cognition
anterior cingulate
nadir CD4 cell count
apathy
ISSN:0028-3932, 1873-3514, 1873-3514
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Alexithymia, an impairment of affective and cognitive emotional processing, is often associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and may reflect effects of the virus on brain areas that are also important for multiple cognitive functions, such as the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices. We hypothesized that there would be a correlation between extent of alexithymia and cognitive performance associated with these brain areas, including attention, executive function, and visuospatial processing. Thirty-four asymptomatic HIV+ participants and 34 matched healthy HIV− volunteers were administered the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, a series of neuropsychological tests, and measures of apathy, depression, and quality of life (QoL). The HIV+ participants had significantly higher levels of alexithymia, depression and apathy than the HIV− group. The extent of alexithymia and two of its processing components (Difficulty Describing Feelings [DDF] and Externally Oriented Thinking), but not depression, correlated with performance on measures of executive and visuospatial abilities, consistent with dysfunction of the frontostriatal circuits and their cortical projections. Apathy was related to alexithymia and two processing components (Difficulty Identifying Feelings and DDF) but to only one cognitive measure. The higher rate of alexithymia, as well as cognitive dysfunction, in HIV may be a consequence of the infection on the frontostriatal system and its cortical connections. Our findings also demonstrated a dissociation of apathy and alexithymia in HIV, pointing to overlapping but distinct neural substrates within frontostriatal circuits. Alexithymia correlated strongly with QoL ratings, underscoring the importance of assessment and treatment of HIV-associated emotional and cognitive processing deficits.
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ISSN:0028-3932
1873-3514
1873-3514
DOI:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.12.033