Background: Alexithymia is a condition characterized by deficits in cognitive processing and the regulation of emotions. Several theories have been proposed for the underlying neurobiology, but the etiology of alexithymia remains unclear. Methods: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated brain activation measured on the scale of alexithymia in 38 individuals who were presented with neutral, sad, or angry affective facial stimuli. Results: We found significant inverse correlations between the degree of alexithymia represented by the Korean version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K) and the intensity of the neural response to angry facial stimuli over neutral facial stimuli in the right caudate. This result was mainly due to the activations in factor 2 (difficulty describing feelings) in TAS-20K scale. Conclusions: The results suggest that functional impairments in the caudate of the fronto-striatal circuitry may play important roles in the pathophysiology of alexithymia.
This study analyzes Japanese greetings in five Japanese middle school textbooks in Korea based on revised government’s curriculum in 2015 by classifying them into 12 situations. The first thing that the study has found is that out of 36 greeting expressions suggested by the 2015 revised curriculum, just 15 greeting expressions are commonly presented in the five textbooks. Therefore, it is necessary to include the rest of the essential expressions in the future textbooks. Secondly, most of the greeting expressions are introduced in pictures. Thus, additional explanations including meanings, usages and detailed features must be included. Thirdly, the textbooks mostly present ‘friend-friend,’ ‘teacher-student,’ or ‘parent-kid’ conversations. But there are many greetings taken place in other relationships, so the textbooks need to add more diverse interactions between a wide range of speakers and listeners. Fourthly, most of the situated dialogues introduced in the textbooks happen in schools or homes. Therefore, it is necessary to present various situations taken place in many different places.
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