Loading...
Alexithymia is a limited or even nonexistent ability to consciously experience, verbalize, identify, or fantasize about emotions. Researchers have linked the trait to a heightened awareness of bodily sensations and to increased risk for neuroticism, harm avoidance, panic disorder, and somatization. Alexithymia has also been associated with reduced activity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a center involved in conscious processing of cognitive and emotional stimuli. Low gray-matter volumes in the ACC, high harm avoidance, and low novelty seeking have been associated with two polymorphisms — a valine–methionine substitution on the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene, and the A1 allele of the TaqIA polymorphism on the ANKK gen…