The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship
between emotion perception and both psychopathology and cognitive
functioning in a group of Greek patients with schizophrenia.
Thirty-five patients with schizophrenia were assessed with computerized
tests of emotion perception, using visual faces (Kinney's Affect
Matching Test, KAMT), prosody (Affective Prosody Test, APT), and visual
everyday scenarios (Fantie's Cartoon Test, FCT), as well as a
facial recognition test (Kinney's Identity Matching Test, KIMT).
The patients were also evaluated with the symptoms dimensions derived
from the PANSS (positive, negative, cognitive, depression, and
excitement) and a battery of neuropsychological tests measuring
executive functions, attention, working memory, verbal and visual
memory, visuospatial ability, and visual scanning/psychomotor
speed. The three emotion perception and face recognition tests
correlated significantly with each other. The KAMT was significantly
related to the cognitive symptoms dimension of the PANSS and executive
functions. The FCT was significantly related to level of education and
attention. Finally, the APT was significantly related to the cognitive
symptoms dimension, executive functions, and attention. Our findings
regarding the significant relationships of affect perception, both
facial and vocal, as well as in everyday scenarios, with several
cognitive abilities support the notion that deficits in decoding
affective information in schizophrenia could be attributed to
impairment in more basic neurocognitive domains. (JINS, 2004,
10, 549–558.)