Schizophrenia Alters How Emotions Are Felt

Researchers have discovered that people with schizophrenia experience emotions very differently from those without the condition. The results of this study were published in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin.

Scientists from Vanderbilt University (USA) used “body maps” to compare how healthy individuals and patients with schizophrenia perceive emotions. Participants in both groups were asked to fill out forms indicating where and when they felt specific emotions in their bodies. The researchers then used a computer tool called “EmBODY” to graphically represent these results. Each of the 13 emotions (plus a neutral state) was recorded and mapped onto the corresponding body area as reported in the survey. The resulting maps were then compared using linear discriminant analysis and similarity assessments.

The findings revealed significant differences between the two groups. Both healthy participants and those with schizophrenia described the intensity of their sensations for 13 emotions, specifically noting increased arousal or, conversely, a general decrease in energy for each case. However, people with schizophrenia showed an overall “emotional deficit”—that is, their bodies were less responsive to emotional stimuli.

The study also found that schizophrenia almost completely “shuts off” the ability to recognize emotions within one’s own body. In the future, the researchers hope to help people with this condition become more emotionally responsive, which they believe could improve their interactions with others.

“The main result of our study is that we now better understand why people with schizophrenia may have difficulties communicating with others,” said one of the authors, Lénie J. Torregrossa. “Now we can help them learn to respond to physiological sensations and, in the future, use these responses to process emotions.”