Abstract
Anhedonia is considered as one of the five dimensions of negative symptoms and mainly refers to the reduction of the capacity of feeling pleasure. Increasing evidence suggests that anhedonia in schizophrenia may be partly explained by cognitive impairment. However, the associations between specific cognitive impairment and anhedonia are not fully investigated. The purpose of this study was to examine anticipatory anhedonia, consummatory anhedonia, and their cognitive associations in schizophrenia. A total number of 100 patients with schizophrenia and 67 healthy volunteers were recruited. The clinical symptoms of schizophrenia were assessed. Anticipatory pleasure, consummatory pleasure, and cognitive functions of each participant were measured. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the influencing factors of anhedonia in schizophrenia. The results showed no significant differences in sex, age, education year, body mass index (BMI), and marital status between the schizophrenia group and healthy control group (all P > 0.05). Both anticipatory and consummatory pleasure in the schizophrenia group were significantly lower than those in the healthy control group (all P < 0.05). Immediate memory, visual spanning, language, attention, and delayed memory were significantly poorer in the schizophrenia group (all P < 0.05). The results showed that language deficit is an independent risk factor for anticipatory anhedonia (B' = 0.265, P = 0.008, 95% CI: 0.038-0.244), while delayed memory deficit is an independent risk factor for consummatory anhedonia (B' = 0.391, P < 0.001, 95% CI:0.085-0.237). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reported the specific cognitive associations of anhedonia in schizophrenia. The findings have added new evidence on the influencing factors of anhedonia and provided clues for the associations between clinical manifestations of schizophrenia.
Highlights
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness with diversified and complex symptoms
Accumulating evidence has proven that anhedonia is closely related to poor outcomes in schizophrenia, including a higher risk of suicidal ideation and poorer functional recovering [5,6,7]
Compared to the healthy control group, the schizophrenia group had a lower level of both anticipatory and consummatory pleasure (P < 0.05)
Summary
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness with diversified and complex symptoms. Patients with schizophrenia are suggested to receive long-term treatment since schizophrenia is a disorder that relapses. Residual symptoms such as negative symptoms and cognitive impairment persist long after treatment and have a significant impact on quality of life [2]. Anhedonia is a common symptom shared across psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, and addiction [3, 4] It is mainly defined as the reduced capacity of experiencing the feeling of pleasure. It has been classified as one of the five dimensions of negative symptoms of schizophrenia according to the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS). It is of great importance to clarify the features and influencing factors of anhedonia in schizophrenia
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