Social cognition in schizophrenia: A review of face processing

Abstract

Background: People with schizophrenia have difficulties in interpreting social information. Much social information is gathered from faces, and face processing represents a well-characterized model to study the basis of social deficits in schizophrenia. Sources of data: A narrative review of selected literature. Areas of agreement: Individuals with schizophrenia have impairments in recognizing basic emotions and making social judgements from facial stimuli. Areas of controversy: The neural basis of these abnormalities is still being determined. However, initial evidence implicates dysfunction of frontal and temporal lobe brain regions. Hyper-activation of the amygdala, a brain region involved in fear, to facial stimuli may be an important underlying neural abnormality. Growing points: The present article highlights the difficulties that people with schizophrenia have in interpreting social cues from faces. Areas timely for developing research: Research is required to understand more about both the basis of social deficits in schizophrenia and their potential remediation. © The Authors 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.