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Review
. 2025 Mar 14;51(2):293-308.
doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbae165.

Anhedonia Across and Beyond the Schizophrenia Spectrum

Raymond C K Chan  1   2 , Ling-Ling Wang  3 , Jia Huang  1   2 , Yi Wang  1   2 , Simon S Y Lui  4
Affiliations
Review

Anhedonia Across and Beyond the Schizophrenia Spectrum

Raymond C K Chan et al. Schizophr Bull. .

Abstract

Anhedonia refers to the diminished ability to experience pleasure, and is a core feature of schizophrenia (SCZ). The neurocognitive and neural correlates of anhedonia remain elusive. Based on several influential theoretical models for negative symptoms, this selective review proposed four important neurocognitive domains, which may unveil the neurobiological mechanisms of anhedonia. The authors critically reviewed the current evidence regarding value representation of reward, prospection, emotion-behavior decoupling, and belief updating in the Chinese setting, covering both behavioral and neuroimaging research. We observed a limited application of the transdiagnostic approach in previous studies on the four domains, and the lack of adequate measures to tap into the expressivity deficit in SCZ. Despite many behavioral paradigms for these four domains utilized both social and non-social stimuli, previous studies seldom focused on the social-versus-non-social differentiation. We further advocated several important directions for future research.

Keywords: Chinese settings; anhedonia; schizophrenia spectrum; schizoytpy; subclinical.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that there are no conflicts of interest in relation to the subject of this study.

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