Response of emotional unawareness after XXXX to antidepressant treatment.

@entity1 @entity308 @entity64 @entity905 @entity3756 @entity1054
OBJECTIVE: Unawareness of impairment ( @entity1054 ) is a phenomenon associated with right hemisphere lesions. Unawareness of emotion has rarely been studied. METHODS: @entity1 (N = 50) with @entity308 were administered the Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Alexithymia Scale to assess impairment in identifying feelings (F1), describing feelings (F2), and externally oriented thinking (F3). After eight weeks of treatment with @entity3756 or @entity905 , @entity1 were reassessed. RESULTS: Alexithymia was significantly associated with right hemisphere lesions. @entity1 with alexithymia had a significant improvement in identifying and describing feelings, but not in externally oriented thinking. In addition, cognitive functions improved after antidepressant treatment in @entity1 without alexithymia with left lesions only. On the contrary, functional activities of daily living and depressive symptoms improved both in @entity1 with alexithymia and those without alexithymia. CONCLUSIONS: The unawareness of emotions is a common impairment after right hemisphere @entity64 . This disorder may be significantly improved by antidepressant treatment.
