Emotions are fundamental to cognition and behavior, shaping how individuals evaluate situations, regulate feelings, and engage in interpersonal interactions. The ability to identify and express emotions contributes to psychological well-being and healthy communication. However, individuals with high levels of alexithymia face difficulties in recognizing and expressing their own emotions and in understanding others' emotional states. These difficulties not only impair emotion regulation but may also influence core cognitive processes such as attention. Investigating how alexithymia affects early attentional mechanisms is therefore critical for advancing theoretical and applied knowledge in this field.


The present research explores the impact of alexithymia on attention to emotional information by combining behavioral and physiological measures. Early stages of attentional processing are assessed through the Emotional Stroop Task, while eye-tracking parameters are used to examine how attention is maintained in response to complex emotional scenes selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Unlike previous studies that have largely focused on facial expressions, this approach employs contextually rich stimuli, allowing for a more ecologically valid assessment of attentional dynamics.


In addition, half of the participants with high alexithymia levels take part in a two-week intervention program designed to enhance emotion recognition and train the use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies. After the intervention, participants complete the same tasks again, enabling a comparison of attentional responses before and after training. This design allows us to test whether attentional biases toward emotional stimuli can be modified through targeted intervention, as shown previously in anxiety-related samples.


Data collection for this research has begun. The findings are expected to provide new insights into the cognitive mechanisms underlying alexithymia and contribute to the development of evidence-based strategies that can be integrated into therapeutic and clinical practices. In doing so, the study aims to inform both academic research and interventions addressing emotional processing difficulties.