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Schizophrenia and emotional rubbernecking

Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience volume 14, pages 202–208 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Orienting toward emotionally salient information can be adaptive, as when danger needs to be avoided. Consistent with this idea, research has shown that emotionally valenced information draws attention more so than does neutral information in healthy individuals. However, at times this tendency is not adaptive, and it may distract the individual from goals. People with schizophrenia (PSZ), though they frequently show deficits in attentional control, have also been shown to exhibit diminished recognition of and attention to emotional information. In the present study, we investigated how the presentation of emotionally salient information affected performance on a working memory task for PSZ and healthy controls (HC). We found that although hit rates were equal to those of HCs for PSZ, the PSZ made fewer false alarms—resulting in overall better performance—than did the HCs. Deficits in emotional processing in PSZ appear to provide an advantage to them in situations in which salient emotional information competes with active cognitive goals.

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Author note

E.E.S. (deceased August 17, 2012) was involved in all aspects of the study design. He saw preliminary data analysis indicating the results presented in this article, but passed away before completion of the manuscript. Funding for this study was provided by the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI) and by the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry. NYSPI and the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry had no further role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. We thank Wen Bu for her help testing and scheduling participants for the study, and Ragy Girgis, Joshua Kantrowitz, Jacob Ballon, Roberto Gil, Winnie Leung, and Nicole Gaine for their help recruiting PSZ for the study. We also thank Janet Metcalfe and Eric Eich for their helpful comments on the manuscript. Both authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, Schermerhorn Hall, 324C, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Teal S. Eich & Edward E. Smith

  2. Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA

    Edward E. Smith

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Edward E. Smith

Authors
  1. Teal S. Eich
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  2. Edward E. Smith
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Correspondence to Teal S. Eich.

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Eich, T.S., Smith, E.E. Schizophrenia and emotional rubbernecking. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 14, 202–208 (2014). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-013-0214-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-013-0214-2

Keywords

  • Emotion
  • Schizophrenia
  • Attention
  • Working memory