University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Baltimore, MD 21228, USA.
Schizophr Bull. 2013 Jul;39(4):872-83. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbs186. Epub 2013 Jan 11.
Contrary to early conceptualizations of emotional experience in schizophrenia (SZ), recent research indicates that patients do not self-report less in-the-moment pleasure than controls (CN). Rather, patients report experiencing elevated levels of negative emotionality in response to a range of evocative stimuli. In this study, we examined the possibility that elevations in negative emotionality in SZ may reflect an underlying emotion regulation abnormality. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from outpatients with SZ (n = 25) and demographically matched healthy controls (n = 21) during passive viewing of unpleasant and neutral photographs. Unpleasant images were preceded by an audio description that described the image as being either negative or neutral. Neutral images were preceded by neutral audio descriptions. The late positive potential (LPP), an ERP component sensitive to cognitive change strategies, was examined as an index of emotion regulation. Both CN and SZ showed an increased LPP to negatively described unpleasant images compared with neutral images. In addition, CN showed evidence of emotion regulation, as reflected by a smaller LPP for unpleasant images preceded by a neutral descriptor, relative to a negative descriptor. In contrast, SZ patients showed an inability to downregulate emotional response, as evidenced by no difference in the amplitude of the LPP for unpleasant images preceded by negative or neutral descriptors. Findings provide neurophysiological evidence for an emotion regulation abnormality in SZ and suggest that failures in cognitive change may underlie increased negative emotionality in SZ.
与精神分裂症（SZ）早期情感体验的概念相反，最近的研究表明，患者在当下体验到的愉悦感并不比对照组（CN）少。相反，患者报告在一系列唤起性刺激下体验到更高水平的负性情绪。在这项研究中，我们研究了 SZ 中负性情绪升高是否可能反映出潜在的情绪调节异常。我们从 SZ 门诊患者（n = 25）和年龄匹配的健康对照组（n = 21）中记录了事件相关电位（ERPs），在被动观看不愉快和中性照片时进行记录。不愉快的图像之前会有一段音频描述，将图像描述为负面或中性。中性图像之前会有中性的音频描述。晚期正电位（LPP）是一种对认知变化策略敏感的 ERP 成分，作为情绪调节的指标进行了检查。与中性图像相比，CN 和 SZ 对描述为负面的不愉快图像都显示出 LPP 的增加。此外，CN 表现出情绪调节的证据，表现为与负性描述相比，中性描述的不愉快图像的 LPP 较小。相比之下，SZ 患者表现出无法调节情绪反应的能力，因为负性或中性描述的不愉快图像的 LPP 振幅没有差异。研究结果为 SZ 中的情绪调节异常提供了神经生理学证据，并表明认知改变失败可能是 SZ 中负性情绪增加的基础。
