Department of Psychology, Northwestern University.
Department of Psychology, San Diego State University.
J Psychopathol Clin Sci. 2023 Nov;132(8):1060-1071. doi: 10.1037/abn0000862. Epub 2023 Oct 5.
Deficits in emotion processing are core features of psychotic disorders. Electrophysiology research in schizophrenia suggests deficits in sustained engagement with emotional content (indexed by the late positive potential [LPP]) may contribute to emotion processing impairments. Despite similar behavioral emotion processing dysfunction in those at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis, limited research has examined neural mechanisms of impaired emotion processing in the high-risk period, where research can inform risk models. To examine mechanisms of emotion processing deficits in those at CHR for psychosis, the present study used a passive viewing task to elicit the LPP in response to emotionally engaging and neutral stimuli in 28 CHR and 32 control participants (60% female). Relative to controls, CHR participants showed reduced LPP amplitude when viewing unpleasant images ( = 0.75, = .005) but similar LPP amplitude in response to both neutral ( = 0.35, = .19) and pleasant images ( = 0.31, = .24). This pattern suggests that individuals at CHR for psychosis exhibit a deficit in sustained engagement with unpleasant stimuli. Clinical and trait questionnaires were administered to examine potential exploratory explanations for group differences in LPP amplitude. Consistent with evidence suggesting LPP amplitude reflects engagement of approach/avoidance motivational systems, greater LPP amplitude was associated with greater trait-level behavioral avoidance in control participants ( = .42, = .032) but not CHR participants ( = -.21, = .40). Together, the present research is consistent with LPP studies in psychosis and implicates reduced sustained engagement with emotional content in the high-risk period. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
情绪处理缺陷是精神病性障碍的核心特征。精神分裂症的电生理学研究表明，对情绪内容的持续参与缺陷（以晚期正电位[LPP]为指标）可能导致情绪处理障碍。尽管处于精神病高危状态（CHR）的个体也存在类似的行为情绪处理功能障碍，但在高危期研究情绪处理受损的神经机制的研究较少，而该研究可以为风险模型提供信息。为了研究处于精神病高危状态的个体的情绪处理缺陷的机制，本研究使用被动观看任务，在 28 名 CHR 和 32 名对照组参与者（60%为女性）中，对情绪吸引和中性刺激引发 LPP。与对照组相比，CHR 参与者在观看不愉快的图像时 LPP 振幅降低（ = 0.75， =.005），但对中性（ = 0.35， =.19）和愉快的图像（ = 0.31， =.24）的 LPP 振幅没有差异。这种模式表明，处于精神病高危状态的个体在对不愉快刺激的持续参与方面存在缺陷。临床和特质问卷用于检查 LPP 振幅组间差异的潜在探索性解释。与 LPP 振幅反映趋近/回避动机系统的参与的证据一致，在对照组参与者中，更大的 LPP 振幅与更大的特质水平行为回避相关（ =.42， =.032），而在 CHR 参与者中则没有（ = -.21， =.40）。总之，本研究与精神病的 LPP 研究一致，并暗示在高危期对情绪内容的持续参与减少。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2023 APA，保留所有权利）。
