FLAT AFFECT IN SCHIZOPHRENIA - A TEST OF NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS

This study evaluated the association between neuropsychological indice s of frontal lobe and right hemisphere impairment and deficits in the expression of affect in schizophrenia. The advantages of the present s tudy were that unmedicated schizophrenia patients were studied and rel evant demographic characteristics were controlled. Furthermore, defici ts in affective expression were assessed both in a clinical interview and in subjects' response to affect-eliciting films. Despite the fact that schizophrenia subjects demonstrated significantly higher clinical ratings of affective flattening and less facial expression while view ing films than demographically matched control subjects, neuropsycholo gical performance was not consistently related to these expressive def icits. The results thus failed to support for the proposed neuropsycho logical models of affective deficits in schizophrenia. The characteriz ation of flat affect as a purely emotional deficit is questioned, and limitations of current neuropsychological theories of emotional expres sion and neuropsychological methods to test these theories in the stud y of schizophrenia are discussed as relevant concerns for future resea rch.