Implicit and explicit processing of bodily emotions in schizophrenia

Disturbed emotion processing is well documented in schizophrenia, but the majority of studies evaluate processing of emotion only from facial expressions. Social cues are also communicated via body posture, and they are similarly relevant for successful social interactions. The aim of the current study was to thoroughly examine body perception abilities in individuals with schizophrenia.

Fifty-nine patients with schizophrenia and 37 healthy controls completed two tasks of body processing. The first, which was based on the Affect Misattribution Procedure, evaluated implicit processing of bodily emotions, and the second utilised a traditional emotion identification paradigm to assess explicit emotion recognition.

Results revealed aberrant implicit processing, but more normative explicit processing, in individuals with schizophrenia. Moderate associations were found between processing of bodies and symptoms of paranoia. Performance on the tasks was not related to cognitive functioning but was associated with clinician-rated social functioning.

Collectively, these results provide information about disturbed processing of bodily emotions in schizophrenia and suggest that these disturbances are associated with the severity of positive symptoms and predict difficulties in everyday social activities and interpersonal relationships.