Attentional and information processing impairments
have been evidenced in nonclinical anhedonic subjects.
However, the extent of attentional deficit has not been
determined. We studied focused attention, the ability to
reject irrelevant or distracting messages, in anhedonic
nonclinical subjects. The event-related potentials and
behavioral performances of anhedonic subjects were compared
with those of control subjects during the Eriksen focused
attention task (C.W. Eriksen & B.A. Eriksen, 1974);
the task combined one compatible and one incompatible condition,
the latter causing an interference. Anhedonic subjects
exhibited a smaller P300 and slower reaction times than
control subjects. Varying task conditions had different
effects on anhedonic subjects and controls, suggesting
that anhedonic subjects may have developed a conservative
response strategy. In view of previous works, these results
suggest that attentional impairment is not ascribed to
specific processes, but may involve a more global deficit,
that is, a resource allocation deficit.