Schizophrenia Bulletin Advance Access published online on February 17, 2009
Schizophrenia Bulletin, doi:10.1093/schbul/sbn178
Olfactory Hedonic Judgment in Patients With Deficit Syndrome Schizophrenia
2 Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
3 Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, PO Box 21247, Baltimore, MD 21228
4 Mojave Adult, Child, and Family Services, Las Vegas, NV
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed; tel: +1-410-402-5063, fax: +1-410-402-6023, e-mail: gstrauss{at}mprc.umaryland.edu.
Olfactory perception was examined in deficit syndrome (DS) and nondeficit syndrome (ND) schizophrenia patients. Participants included 22 controls (CN) and 41 patients with schizophrenia who were divided into DS (n = 15) and ND (n = 26) subtypes using the Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome (SDS). Olfactory perception for pleasant and unpleasant odors was assessed using the Brief Smell Identification Test. Participants were instructed to identifying each smell as well as provide hedonic judgment ratings of each smell on a 7-point scale (1 = extremely pleasant, 4 = neutral, and 7 = extremely unpleasant). Results indicated that when compared with the ND patients, the DS patients rated pleasant smells as being significantly less pleasant, although no difference between the groups was present for unpleasant smells, and both ND and DS groups significantly differed from CN on rating and identifying pleasant and unpleasant items. Additionally, lower smell identification accuracy was negatively correlated with SDS symptom severity, and valence ratings for pleasant odors were positively correlated with SDS diminished emotional range. Findings suggest that the DS is characterized by a unique pattern of olfactory valence judgment that is characterized by abnormalities in processing positively valenced stimuli.
Keywords: negative symptoms / olfaction / emotion / valence