TY  - JOUR
A1  - Pollatos, Olga
A1  - Gramann, Klaus
T1  - Electrophysiological evidence of early processing deficits in alexithymia
JF  - Biological psychology
N2  - Alexithymia describes difficulties to identify and describe one's emotions. Previous research focused on difficulties associated with the later processing stages of appraisal in alexithymia. We tested whether early processing deficits are apparent in alexithymic persons and whether these abnormalities contribute to later processing difficulties. 20 participants were selected and identified as either having high (HDA) or low (LDA) degrees of alexithymia. IAPS pictures were presented while EEG was recorded. For HDA subjects processing of emotional pictures was accompanied by reduced P1 amplitudes most pronounced for pleasant and neutral pictures. In response to unpleasant pictures the P3 amplitudes were reduced. These amplitude modulations were predicted only by one alexithymia facet. P1 amplitudes systematically covaried with P3 amplitudes supporting the assumption that deficits in early emotional processing contribute to later processing deficits.
KW  - Evoked potentials
KW  - Emotions
KW  - Alexithymia
KW  - Perceived arousal
KW  - Unpleasant stimuli
KW  - IAPS
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.02.016
SN  - 0301-0511
VL  - 87
IS  - 1
SP  - 113
EP  - 121
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Herbert, Beate M.
A1  - Pollatos, Olga
T1  - The body in the mind On the relationship between interoception and embodiment
JF  - Topics in cognitive science
N2  - The processing, representation, and perception of bodily signals (interoception) plays an important role for human behavior. Theories of embodied cognition hold that higher cognitive processes operate on perceptual symbols and that concept use involves reactivations of the sensory-motor states that occur during experience with the world. Similarly, activation of interoceptive representations and meta-representations of bodily signals supporting interoceptive awareness are profoundly associated with emotional experience and cognitive functions. This article gives an overview over present findings and models on interoception and mechanisms of embodiment and highlights its relevance for disorders that are suggested to represent a translation deficit of bodily states into subjective feelings and self-awareness.
KW  - Interoception
KW  - Interoceptive awareness
KW  - Emotions
KW  - Time perception
KW  - Disturbances of embodiment
KW  - Alexithymia
KW  - Eating disorder
KW  - Self
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-8765.2012.01189.x
SN  - 1756-8757
VL  - 4
IS  - 4
SP  - 692
EP  - 704
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -