Neural Correlates of Sad Feelings in Schizophrenia with and without Blunted Affect

Abstract

We observed not only hypofrontality in the BA+ group but also dysfunctional circuitry distributed throughout the brain. The temporal and midbrain activation seen in the BA+ group may indicate that these brain regions were working harder to compensate for inactivation in other regions. These distributed dysfunctional circuits may form the neural basis of blunted affect through impairment of emotion processing in the brain that prevents it from processing input efficiently and producing output effectively, thereby leading to symptoms such as blunted affect.