Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29695908›Full record

ArticleNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2018

The functional and structural characteristics of the emotion network in alexithymia.

Dai Han, Mei Li, Minjun Mei, Xiaofei Sun

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 31% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. How alexithymia shapes functional networks: Insights from a general population study.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Dai HanInstitutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Mei LiMental Health Education and Counseling Center, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Minjun MeiMental Health Education and Counseling Center, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Xiaofei SunMental Health Education and Counseling Center, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Hangzhou Normal University · CNZhejiang Lab · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlexithymia is a multifaceted personality trait characterized by emotional dysfunction.

methodsIn this study, the functional and structural features of the emotion network in alexithymia were investigated using resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI), voxel-based morphometry (VBM), functional connectivity (FC) analysis, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Alexithymic and non-alexithymic students were recruited from the local university. The intrinsic neural activity and gray matter density of the brain regions in the emotion network were measured using rsfMRI and VBM; the FC and structural connectivity of the brain regions in the emotion network were measured using FC analysis and DTI.

resultsThe altered intrinsic neural activity in V1, rostral dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and left amygdala, and the weak FC between V1 and left superior temporal gyrus and V1 and left paracentral lobule in alexithymia subjects were identified. However, no alteration of the structure and structural connectivity of the emotion network was identified.

conclusionThe results indicated that the development of alexithymia might have been caused only by slight alteration of the neural activity. Furthermore, the results suggest that noninvasive treatment technologies for improving the brain activity are suitable for alexithymic individuals.

Indexed as

emotion networkfunctional connectivityrsfMRIstructural connectivityVBM

Identifiers

PMID29695908
PMCPMC5905825
OpenAlexW2797949232

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.