Neural responses to criticism and praise vary with schizotypy and perceived emotional support

This study aimed to determine the relation of these neural responses during criticism and praise to perceived emotional support. Participants (n = 32) representing the full (low-to-high) range of positive schizotypy listened to and rated the self-relevance of EE-like criticism and praise and affectively neutral comments while undergoing electroencephalography. Participants completed self-report measures of schizotypy, depression and anxiety. A subset of those with a high positive schizotypy score (n = 22) completed a measure of perceived EE - lack of emotional support. Higher perceived EE - lack of emotional support correlated with lower frontal theta power and lower occipital alpha power during criticism and praise in schizotypal participants. A reduction of frontal theta power that denotes less emotional arousal and lower occipital alpha power that denotes more alertness to emotional information may relate to less perceived emotional support in people with high schizotypy.
Source: International Journal of Psychophysiology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research