Deficits in attentional processing of fearful facial expressions in schizophrenic patients

Impaired attentional processing of negative facial expressions is prominent in schizophrenia and has been shown to be associated with patients’ social dysfunctions. However, little is known about when and which specific attention deficits influence social functions. Given the dynamic feature of attention, it is necessary to investigate the attention deficits in negative emotional processing unfolding in time. The current study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the temporal dynamics of attention deficits in emotion perception and their potential relationship with emotional/social impairments in neuroleptic naive schizophrenic patients. Two specific attention deficits were identified and were found to be associated with emotional/social impairments. More specifically, the deficit in orienting attention (evidenced with the reduced P1 amplitude) was correlated with expressive deficits, while the deficit in executive control of attention (evidenced with the reduced P3 amplitude) was correlated with avolition/asociality. Together, these findings may provide novel insights into the core pathophysiological processes and offer objective biomarkers for specific emotional/social impairments in schizophrenia. It is also hoped that this study helps to bridge the gap between basic cognitive deficits and relative high-level social dysfunctions in schizophrenic patients.