[Alexithymia - traditional and advanced studies].

This review looks at alexithymia - difficulty identifying and expressing emotions. Research shows it's now seen as a medical condition rather than just a personality difference. The condition is linked to many health problems including autism, brain injuries, and mental health issues. Scientists are developing better ways to test for and treat alexithymia using brain scans and computer programs.

This literature review examines alexithymia research from the past decade, revealing a significant shift in clinical understanding. Previously considered a normal variation, alexithymia is now increasingly recognized as a neuropsychiatric syndrome. The review explores connections between alexithymia and various conditions including autoimmune diseases, neurological disorders (stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy), mental health conditions, autism spectrum disorders, and post-traumatic stress. The authors discuss emerging assessment tools and highlight promising research directions including neuroimaging, neurobiological markers, brain bioelectrical activity monitoring, and computer-based diagnostic methods.

The review emphasizes the need for more objective detection methods and the development of targeted therapeutic strategies for this complex condition.

Clinicians should consider alexithymia assessment in patients with autism, neurological conditions, and mental health disorders. The evolving understanding suggests alexithymia may benefit from targeted therapeutic approaches. New diagnostic tools may improve identification and treatment planning for affected individuals.

As a narrative literature review without systematic methodology, selection bias may affect findings. No specific sample sizes, effect sizes, or statistical analyses are reported. The review covers a broad range of conditions but lacks depth in examining specific relationships or intervention effectiveness.

The close association of alexithymia with various somatic diseases has been studied for more than fifty years by different medical and related researchers. In the past decade, research on the connection between alexithymia and autoimmune diseases, as well as neurological and mental disorders, has gained significant interest. A literature review with a search depth of 10 years is presented. A literature search was conducted in the elibrary.ru, CyberLeninka, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases using the key term «alexithymia.» Current evidence suggests a much more heterogeneous understanding of alexithymia in clinical practice during this period: a significant shift has been observed from interpreting alexithymia as a normal variation to considering it a neuropsychiatric syndrome.

The paper discusses a new tool for assessing alexithymia, the relationship of alexithymia with post-stroke complications, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, tendency to self-harm, and addictive behavior, autism spectrum disorders, post-traumatic stress; analyzes promising areas for further study of alexithymia, aimed at increasing the objectification of its level detection (neuroimaging, search for neurobiological specific features, registration of bioelectrical activity of the brain, and computer diagnostic methods), as well as the development of therapeutic strategies.