Petra Holštajn Zemánková1,2, Martin Gajdoš3, Miroslav Světlák4,5, Martin Bareš6, Jan Širůček7, Tomáš Kašpárek4. 1. First Department of Neurology, St. Anne's University Hospital and School of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. petra.zemankova@mail.muni.cz. 2. Behavioral and Social Neuroscience, CEITEC, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. petra.zemankova@mail.muni.cz. 3. Multimodal and Functional Imaging Laboratory, CEITEC, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. 4. Department of Psychiatry, Masaryk University and University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic. 5. Department of Psychology and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. 6. First Department of Neurology, St. Anne's University Hospital and School of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. 7. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
Abstract
PURPOSE: People with eating disorders (EDs) have difficulties understanding their own emotions and recognizing the emotions of others, especially in ambiguous settings. We examined the neuronal mechanisms underlying the emotion processing of ambiguous interpersonal stimuli in EDs and healthy controls (HCs). METHODS: The fMRI data were acquired by a blocked experimental design with 28 women (14 EDs) during the visual presentation of a modified Thematic Apperception Test. RESULTS: EDs showed very strong associations between experienced and inferred emotions evoked by the stimuli; no such relationship was found in HCs. HCs displayed elevated left anterior insula activity during the mentalizing condition; EDs showed increased activity in the right supramarginal gyrus and medial prefrontal cortex. CONCLUSION: The two groups seem to apply different strategies for judging emotionally ambiguous stimuli, albeit resulting in equivalent judgments. We assume that activity in the supramarginal gyrus and insula in EDs is linked with suppressing their own perspective while considering emotional states, probably due to alexithymia and the lack of awareness of their own mental states. We hypothesize that the strong correlation between experienced and inferred emotions in EDs could reflect their tendency to use others as a reference point for perceiving themselves and gaining information about their affective state. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: No level of evidence, this is a basic science study.
PURPOSE:People with eating disorders (EDs) have difficulties understanding their own emotions and recognizing the emotions of others, especially in ambiguous settings. We examined the neuronal mechanisms underlying the emotion processing of ambiguous interpersonal stimuli in EDs and healthy controls (HCs). METHODS: The fMRI data were acquired by a blocked experimental design with 28 women (14 EDs) during the visual presentation of a modified Thematic Apperception Test. RESULTS: EDs showed very strong associations between experienced and inferred emotions evoked by the stimuli; no such relationship was found in HCs. HCs displayed elevated left anterior insula activity during the mentalizing condition; EDs showed increased activity in the right supramarginal gyrus and medial prefrontal cortex. CONCLUSION: The two groups seem to apply different strategies for judging emotionally ambiguous stimuli, albeit resulting in equivalent judgments. We assume that activity in the supramarginal gyrus and insula in EDs is linked with suppressing their own perspective while considering emotional states, probably due to alexithymia and the lack of awareness of their own mental states. We hypothesize that the strong correlation between experienced and inferred emotions in EDs could reflect their tendency to use others as a reference point for perceiving themselves and gaining information about their affective state. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: No level of evidence, this is a basic science study.
Authors: Tyler B Mason; Elin Lantz Lesser; Anna R Dolgon-Krutolow; Stephen A Wonderlich; Kathryn E Smith Journal: J Psychiatr Res Date: 2020-11-09 Impact factor: 4.791