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Abstract
Anhedonia has long been considered a core symptom of schizophrenia. Contrary to conclusions obtained from clinical rating scales indicating that most schizophrenia patients are anhedonic, laboratory-based studies indicate intact self-reported and neurophysiological response to pleasant stimuli in schizophrenia. However, prior studies have not comprehensively evaluated the temporal dynamics of emotion response and it is therefore unclear whether anhedonia may exist when measures with good temporal resolution are considered. The current study used electroencephalography, a method with good temporal resolution, to evaluate the time course of the neural response to emotional stimuli in schizophrenia patients (n = 29) and healthy controls (n = 25) who completed an emotional passive viewing task. Several event related potential (ERP) components and self-report were evaluated as measures of emotional response. Schizophrenia patients displayed comparable self-reported and neurophysiological response to controls for pleasant and unpleasant stimuli. Findings provide further support for intact hedonic capacity in schizophrenia.