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S076-3

Emotional Perception Deficits In Schizophrenia; Implications for Antipsychotic
Treatments

Tomiki Sumiyoshi

Department of Clinical Research Promotion, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan

Background/Objective: Among several domains of social cognition, emotional perception is
associated with community functioning in people with neuropsychiatric illnesses. Specifically,
impaired ability to recognize facial emotion recognition related to negative emotions, e.g. fear,
sadness, anger and disgust, has been reported in patients with schizophrenia.

Method: We recently investigated the relationship between facial expression recognition, as
measured by the Facial Emotion Identification Task (FEST), and neurocognition in Japanese patients
with schizophrenia and matched healthy control subjects1). Patients performed worse on the FEST
compared to control subjects. Interestingly, verbal working memory function was positively related
with the facial emotion perception ability in patients.

Result: Mixed results have been obtained as to whether antipsychotic drugs are effective in
alleviating emotional perception deficits associated with schizophrenia. Initial studies with typical
(haloperidol) 2) or atypical (risperidone)3) antipsychotic drugs report minimal response to treatment.
On the other hand, facial recognition of negative emotions, such as fear and disgust, improved in
antipsychotic-naïve patients given risperidone4). Preclinical evidence suggests clozapine, olanzapine
and other atypical antipsychotic drugs, but not typical antipsychotic drugs elicit anxiolytic effects in
rats, as measured by conditioned fear-induced freezing behavior5).

Conclusion: These lines of translational findings point to the need for further efforts to identify
effective pharmacotherapy targeting emotional perception, or negative valence, in patients with
schizophrenia.

Reference: 1) Hagiya K et al. Facial expression perception correlates with verbal working memory
function in schizophrenia. Psychiatr Clin Neurosci, in press
2) Lewis SF, Garver DL. J Psychiat Res 29:5, 1995
3) Herbener ES et al. Am J Psychiatry 162:1746, 2005