Now or not-now? The influence of alexithymia on intertemporal decision-making

•Intertemporal choices arise from the balance between visceral and rational components.•Alexithymic behave more impatiently than not-alexithymic in intertemporal decisions.•In alexithymia the sensitivity to visceral sensations correlates with impatience.•Disproportionate valuation of reward available immediately is observed in alexithymia.•This reflect alexithymic heightened perception of bodily physiological signals.

Optimal intertemporal decisions arise from the balance between an emotional-visceral component, signaling the need for immediate gratification, and a rational, long-term oriented component. Alexithymia, a personality construct characterized by amplified sensitivity to internal bodily signals of arousal, may result in enhanced activation of the emotional-visceral component over the cognitive-rational one. To test this hypothesis, participants with high- and low-alexithymia level were compared at an intertemporal decision-making task, and their choice behavior correlated with their interoceptive sensitivity. We show that high-alexithymic tend to behave more impatiently than low-alexithymic in intertemporal decisions, particularly when the sooner reward is immediately available. Moreover, the greater their sensitivity to their own visceral sensations, the greater the impatience. Together, these results suggest a disproportionate valuation of reward available immediately in high alexithymia, possibly reflecting heightened perception of bodily physiological signals, which ultimately would bias their intertemporal decision-making.