Alexithymia as a Transdiagnostic Precursor to Empathy Abnormalities: The Functional Role of the Insula.

ABSTRACT: Distorted empathic processing has been observed across multiple psychiatric disorders. Simulation theory provides a theoretical framework that proposes a mechanism through which empathy difficulties may arise. Specifically, introspection-centric simulation theory (IST) predicts that an inability to accurately interpret and describe internal affective states may lead to empathy difficulties. The purpose of this review is to synthesize and summarize an empirical literature suggesting that simulation theory provides insights into a cognitive and neurobiological mechanism (i.e., alexithymia and insula pathology) that negatively impacts empathic processing, in addition to how disruptions in these processes manifest across psychiatric disorders. Specifically, we review an emerging non-clinical l

SUBMITTER: Valdespino A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5742870 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature