FAS Abstracts 2004 Meeting Page

Social Sciences (SOC): SOC-4

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Alexithymia and the mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the vent-related potential (ERP). S. CHADEE, G. TURBOK, G. ABRAMS, G. STARRATT, and C. STARRATT. Dept. of Psychology, Barry University, Miami Shores, FL 33161. MMN is apparent in the brain’s differential response to standard and deviant stimuli presented in an auditory oddball paradigm. As a change-detector response, MMN provides an index of the additional processing elicited by deviant as compared to standard stimuli. Student participants were identified as relatively high or low in alexithymia using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20, 1993) and ERPs were elicited to ignored stimuli. Results suggest that individuals who are less able to identify and label their own emotional state show reduced frontal processing of even affectively neutral auditory stimuli, as compared to those who are more skilled. This raises questions regarding the role of the frontal lobes in the processing of all types of external stimuli--not only affectively valenced stimuli--as it relates to the cognitive processing  of subjective affective states.