Impairment in the Specificity of Emotion Processing in Schizophrenia

Abstract

When identical stimuli were used across tasks, differential impairment was seen in patients with schizophrenia for processing emotional faces, although the nonemotional task proved harder for both groups. Impairment in the specificity of emotion identification may lead to misunderstanding of social communication and may underlie difficulties in social adjustment experienced by people with schizophrenia. Emotion discrimination tests could augment the neurobehavioral evaluation of patients.