High Anhedonia Research Articles

Supplemental Material for Neural Activity to Positive Expressions Predicts Daily Experience of Schizophrenia-Spectrum Symptoms in Adults With High Social Anhedonia

Supplemental Material for Neural Activity to Positive Expressions Predicts Daily Experience of Schizophrenia-Spectrum Symptoms in Adults With High Social Anhedonia

Latent profile analysis of healthy schizotypy within the extended psychosis phenotype

Converging evidence suggests that psychosis exists on a continuum, and that even mentally “healthy” individuals may experience subclinical psychotic experiences. However, little research has examined the subjective and psychological well-being of individuals in the putatively healthy end of the continuum. This study explored the latent profile structure of schizotypy in a non-clinical sample and compared subjective and psychological well-being across schizotypy profiles. Latent profile analysis was conducted on participants' responses (N=420) to the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences. Six latent profiles emerged: Low Schizotypy, Average, High Schizotypy, High Unusual Experiences (UE), High Introvertive Anhedonia, and High Introvertive Anhedonia/Cognitive Disorganization. Individuals in the profile characterized by high UE without negative, disorganized or impulsive features tended to endorse similar levels of well-being as the Average and Low Schizotypy profiles. With some exceptions, all three profiles also demonstrated significantly greater subjective and psychological well-being when compared to negative/disorganized schizotypy profiles. The UE profile most closely aligns with previous conceptualizations of “healthy schizotypy.” Future research should investigate how individuals in this profile make sense of unusual or ambiguous experiences that may lead to distress in clinical populations.

Reduced Reward Learning Predicts Outcome in Major Depressive Disorder

Reduced reward learning might contribute to the onset and maintenance of major depressive disorder (MDD). In particular, the inability to utilize rewards to guide behavior is hypothesized to be associated with anhedonia, a core feature and potential trait marker of MDD. Few studies have investigated whether reduced reward learning normalizes with treatment and/or reward learning predicts clinical outcome. Our goal was to test whether MDD is characterized by reduced reward learning, especially in the presence of anhedonic symptoms, and to investigate the relationship between reward learning and MDD diagnosis after 8 weeks of treatment. Seventy-nine inpatients and 63 healthy control subjects performed a probabilistic reward task yielding an objective measure of participants' ability to modulate behavior as a function of reward. We compared reward responsiveness between depressed patients and control subjects, as well as high- versus low-anhedonic MDD patients. We also evaluated whether reward-learning deficits predicted persistence of MDD after 8 weeks of treatment. Relative to control subjects, MDD patients showed reduced reward learning. Moreover, patients with high anhedonia showed diminished reward learning compared with patients with low anhedonia. Reduced reward learning at study entry increased the odds of a persisting diagnosis of MDD after 8 weeks of treatment (odds ratio 7.84). Our findings indicate that depressed patients, especially those with anhedonic features, are characterized by an impaired ability to modulate behavior as a function of reward. Moreover, reduced reward learning increased the odds for the diagnosis of MDD to persist after 8 weeks of treatment.

Anhedonia in Borderline Personality Disorder and Its Relation to Symptoms of Impulsivity

Background: Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) report strong negative affect and show impulsive, disruptive behaviors. The role of anhedonia, or the inability to experience positive affect, has been less examined in BPD. The present study examined the role of anhedonia in BPD patients and its relation to symptoms of impulsivity. Sampling and Methods: Anhedonia, affect, impulsivity and BPD symptoms were measured in BPD patients and healthy control participants. Results: It was found that BPD patients showed abnormally high anhedonia levels. In addition, anhedonia was found to be positively related to dysfunctional impulsivity in the BPD patient group, while in the control group, anhedonia was related to withdrawal behaviors. A strong relation was found between anhedonia and BPD symptoms, emphasizing the relevance of anhedonia as an important symptom of BPD. Finally, anhedonia was found to be an important contributor to the severity of borderline symptoms, independently of other factors such as affect and impulsivity. Conclusions: The results underline that anhedonia might be an important but currently overlooked feature of BPD. The results further suggest that anhedonia is associated with the impulsive behaviors that are typically observed in borderline patients.

Impaired executive control of emotional information in social anhedonia

We examined the executive control of emotional information and its relationship to social functioning in individuals at risk for schizophrenia, defined by high social anhedonia (SA). Using the same structure as the Attentional Network Test (ANT), we developed a measure of executive control of emotional information (ANT-Emotion) in which subjects identify the direction of an arrow flanked by irrelevant angry or neutral faces. Subjects completed the ANT, ANT-Emotion, and the Social Adjustment Scale, Self-Report (SAS-SR), a measure of social functioning. While there were no group differences in the alerting, orienting, and executive control networks assessed by the ANT, high SA individuals exhibited a specific impairment in the executive control of emotional information. High SA individuals also reported poorer social functioning. However, executive control of emotional information did not mediate the relationship between SA and social functioning. These findings indicate that, in high-risk populations, the impaired ability to inhibit emotional information allows negative affective stimuli to exert inappropriate influence on cognitive processes. These results are consistent with studies indicating similar findings in schizophrenia patients, suggesting that impaired inhibition of negative emotion may be part of the liability for the disorder.

Social anhedonia is associated with neural abnormalities during face emotion processing

Human beings are social organisms with an intrinsic desire to seek and participate in social interactions. Social anhedonia is a personality trait characterized by a reduced desire for social affiliation and reduced pleasure derived from interpersonal interactions. Abnormally high levels of social anhedonia prospectively predict the development of schizophrenia and contribute to poorer outcomes for schizophrenia patients. Despite the strong association between social anhedonia and schizophrenia, the neural mechanisms that underlie individual differences in social anhedonia have not been studied and are thus poorly understood. Deficits in face emotion recognition are related to poorer social outcomes in schizophrenia, and it has been suggested that face emotion recognition deficits may be a behavioral marker for schizophrenia liability. In the current study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to see whether there are differences in the brain networks underlying basic face emotion processing in a community sample of individuals low vs. high in social anhedonia. We isolated the neural mechanisms related to face emotion processing by comparing face emotion discrimination with four other baseline conditions (identity discrimination of emotional faces, identity discrimination of neutral faces, object discrimination, and pattern discrimination). Results showed a group (high/low social anhedonia) × condition (emotion discrimination/control condition) interaction in the anterior portion of the rostral medial prefrontal cortex, right superior temporal gyrus, and left somatosensory cortex. As predicted, high (relative to low) social anhedonia participants showed less neural activity in face emotion processing regions during emotion discrimination as compared to each control condition. The findings suggest that social anhedonia is associated with abnormalities in networks responsible for basic processes associated with social cognition, and provide a starting point for understanding the neural basis of social motivation and our drive to seek social affiliation.

Relations between anhedonia and smoking motivation

A growing literature suggests that anhedonia-an affective dimension related to the inability to experience pleasure-is associated with poor smoking cessation outcomes. Despite these findings, research of the motivational mechanisms linking anhedonia and smoking has been limited. Accordingly, the present study examined (a) relationships between anhedonia and motivationally relevant smoking characteristics and (b) whether anhedonia moderated the effects of tobacco deprivation on appetitive and aversive aspects of smoking urges. Smokers (N = 212; >or=5 cigarettes/day) first attended a baseline session during which measures of anhedonia and smoking characteristics were completed. Prior to a subsequent experimental session, a portion of participants were randomized to one of two groups: (a) 12-hr tobacco deprivation before the session (n = 51) and (b) ad libitum smoking (n = 69). Smokers with higher levels of anhedonia reported a greater number of past failed quit attempts and a higher proportion of quit attempts that ended in rapid relapse within 24 hr, rs > .20, ps < .05. Anhedonia did not consistently correlate with smoking heaviness, chronicity, and dependence motives. Anhedonia significantly moderated the influence of tobacco deprivation on appetitive smoking urges, such that deprivation effects on appetitive urges were stronger in high anhedonia smokers (beta = .64) than in low anhedonia smokers (beta = .23). Anhedonia did not moderate deprivation effects on aversive smoking urges. This pattern of results remained robust when controlling for baseline negative affect. These findings elucidate anhedonia's link with smoking relapse and could be useful for developing cessation interventions for anhedonic smokers.

Schizotypal traits in relation to cerebellar volume and asymmetry: A high-resolution 3D magnetic resonance imaging study

The relationships between several indices of psychosis proneness and bilateral electrodermal orienting were examined in a large group of normal subjects and a heterogeneous group of schizophrenic patients. In the normal group, the Cognitive Disorganisation scale was characterised by shorter latencies and more irregular patterns of responding that may indicate greater disinhibitory processing in the regulation of attentional mechanisms. The Unusual Experiences scale and paranoia (both measures of positive or `active' schizotypy) were associated with a predominance of left hemisphere influences in normal female controls. High Introvertive Anhedonia scores predicted non-responding status in schizophrenic patients and hypo-responsivity in normal controls in support of some previous studies. Overall the results support the specificity and validity of different measures of psychosis proneness and the utility of psychophysiological investigation beyond the psychotic disorders themselves. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.

Brain ERPs of depressed patients to complex tones in an oddball task: Relation of reduced P3 asymmetry to physical anhedonia

Event-related potentials to binaural complex tones were recorded from 40 depressed outpatients and 22 normal control participants at 30 electrode sites. Patients did not differ from control participants in N1 or P3 amplitude but showed greater N2. N2 was greater over right than over the left hemisphere at lateral sites in patients and control participants. A P3 asymmetry was found for control participants and patients with low scores on a physical anhedonia scale, but not for patients with high anhedonia scores. Topographic (local Laplacian) maps corresponding to P3 showed greater radial current flow over right than over left central regions in control participants. Patients with high anhedonia did not show this asymmetry, whereas patients with low anhedonia showed an intermediate asymmetry. These findings support the hypothesis that anhedonic depression is associated with dysfunction of right hemisphere mechanisms mediating the processing of complex pitch information.

Electrodermal relationships with personality measures of psychosis-proneness in psychotic and normal subjects

The relationships between several indices of psychosis proneness and bilateral electrodermal orienting were examined in a large group of normal subjects and a heterogeneous group of schizophrenic patients. In the normal group, the Cognitive Disorganisation scale was characterised by shorter latencies and more irregular patterns of responding that may indicate greater disinhibitory processing in the regulation of attentional mechanisms. The Unusual Experiences scale and paranoia (both measures of positive or `active' schizotypy) were associated with a predominance of left hemisphere influences in normal female controls. High Introvertive Anhedonia scores predicted non-responding status in schizophrenic patients and hypo-responsivity in normal controls in support of some previous studies. Overall the results support the specificity and validity of different measures of psychosis proneness and the utility of psychophysiological investigation beyond the psychotic disorders themselves. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.

The multidimensional nature of schizotypal traits: A cluster analytic study

Four schizotypy measures were administered to a sample of 69 undergraduate psychology students. Agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis revealed the existence of four distinct subgroups of participants. The first cluster was characterized by low scores on all four measures. The second cluster was distinguished by elevated scores on the Magical Ideation Scale, the third cluster by very high scores on the Social Anhedonia Scale and the STA, and the fourth cluster by very high Physical Anhedonia Scale scores. These clusters were interpreted in relation to dimensions of schizotypy and to schizophrenic symptoms. Cluster 1 appeared to reflect an overall absence of schizotypal features and symptoms of schizophrenia. It was suggested that Cluster 2 might relate to ideational and perceptual features of schizotypy, while Cluster 4 might correspond to cognitive disorganization/social anxiety; these clusters may, in turn, align with the reality distortion and disorganization syndromes of schizophrenia. Cluster 3 was thought to reflect anhedonic aspects of schizotypy, particularly physical anhedonia, and, therefore, may relate to negative schizophrenic symptoms.

Psychophysiological response patterns in college students with high physical anhedonia: Scores appear to reflect schizotypy rather than depression

The Chapman physical anhedonia (AN) and perceptual aberration (AB) scales were intended to identify high risk for schizophrenia. Although schizophrenic-like dysfunctions have been reported in association with each, the issue is clouded by possible relationships with depression. We recently reported psychophysiological patterns distinguishing depression from schizophrenia. Schizophrenics showed reduced orienting response (OR) to innocuous stimuli in both electrodermal (SCR) and finger pulse (FPV) components, normalizing in both to significant signals. Depressives showed deficient, non-normalizing SCR, but normal FPV, implicating SCR/cholinergic rather than OR deficits. 16 AN, 18 AB, and 17 control students received an innocuous (habituation) tone series followed by a significant (alternating-press) series. ANs displayed schizophrenic-like rather than depressive-like response patterns, but ABs showed no coherent pattern. Findings in ANs were somewhat attenuated compared with schizophrenics, perhaps reflecting the small percentage of schizophrenics-to-be in this risk group. The absence of clear deficit in ABs agrees with studies showing OR deficits to be associated with more negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

Anhedonia and death.

The Anhedonia Scale scores of 39 persons who later committed suicide, people who later died of natural causes, and survivors were compared. The results were equivocal, but suggested that suicides are characterized by low anhedonia and individuals who die premature natural deaths show high anhedonia levels.

Anhedonia and schizophrenia

The authors administered semi-structured interviews to 187 psychiatric inpatients to determine the role of anhedonia in schizophrenia. The interviews were taperecorded and then given blind ratings for anhedonia on a 7-point scale. Schizophrenic patients had significantly more anhedonia than nonschizophrenics, although many of the latter group had anhedonic tendencies. Most of the difference between the groups resulted from high anhedonia scores for chronic schizophrenics; less anhedonia was found in the acute schizophrenic patients. The data indicate that anhedonia is not necessary or unique to schizophrenia but is a prominent factor in chronic schizophrenia.