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Emotion in Schizophrenia: Where Feeling Meets Thinking.
Ann M Kring1, Janelle M Caponigro
1University of California, Berkeley.
Current Directions in Psychological Science
|May 5, 2012
Summary
Schizophrenia patients show reduced outward emotional expression but feel emotions internally. Research highlights difficulties in anticipating future positive experiences, impacting motivation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Affective Science
Background:
- Schizophrenia is associated with emotional difficulties, including blunted outward emotional expression.
- Translational research has advanced the understanding of emotional processing in schizophrenia over the last two decades.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the temporal dynamics of emotional experience in schizophrenia.
- To explore the role of anticipation and memory in motivated behavior in individuals with schizophrenia.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing behavioral, psychophysiological, and brain imaging techniques.
- Examining emotional experience in response to immediate and future-oriented stimuli.
Main Results:
- Individuals with schizophrenia experience emotions in the moment but struggle with anticipating future positive experiences.
- This anticipatory difficulty may reduce motivation for pursuing pleasurable events.
Conclusions:
- Emotional impairments in schizophrenia are complex and involve the time course of emotional processing.
- Future research should focus on the role of memory and anticipation in motivated behavior and the development of targeted treatments.
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