People with schizophrenia have difficulty recognizing emotions. But these disorders could also exist, more discreetly, among those close to them. A study, carried by the PsyR2 team, explores the brain mechanisms at play.
Schizophrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder that notably affects the ability to recognize emotions, particularly on faces. These difficulties are not trivial: they are linked to relational problems, social withdrawal and less autonomy.
However, these alterations do not only concern patients. Studies show that their loved ones, even though they are healthy, also have difficulties, particularly when faced with negative emotions such as fear or anger.
Led by the PsyR2* team, this study raises a key question: could these disorders constitute an “endophenotype”, that is to say an intermediate signature between genes and the disease?
A closer approach to real life
To better understand these mechanisms, the researchers studied three groups:
- patients with schizophrenia,
- their non-sick brothers and/or sisters,
- and people without psychiatric disorders.
All performed a task under functional MRI (fMRI), consisting of recognizing emotions on faces integrated into an emotional context (and not presented in isolation). This approach is intended to be closer to real situations.
The researchers also used a non-emotional control condition (judging the direction of an arrow), in order to avoid a common bias: “neutral” faces are not perceived as truly neutral by the patients.
Finally, they analyzed:
- THE behavioral performance (speed and precision),
- l’brain activity,
- and the connectivity between brain regionsparticularly around the amygdala, a key structure in the processing of emotions.
Shared difficulties but subtle mechanisms
The results show that:
- the patients and their brothers and sisters recognize negative emotions less well than controls;
- their performances are close, suggesting a continuum between vulnerability and illness.
On the cerebral level, the differences are more discreet than expected:
- the amygdala, often considered central, functions in a way similar in the three groups ;
- on the other hand, certain regions involved in social and bodily perception (notably the somatosensory cortex) present reduced activationsespecially among loved ones.
Another result, the analyzes reveal that siblings show an increase in connections between the amygdala and visual regions. The researchers suggest that this could correspond to a compensatory mechanism : the brain would mobilize certain circuits more to compensate for weaknesses.
Towards new vulnerability markers
This study sheds nuanced light on schizophrenia. Rather than a massive dysfunction of a single region such as the amygdala, it highlights more subtle alterations involving brain networks also present in people at risk but not sick.
These results open up important perspectives. Better understanding these mechanisms could allow:
- to identify vulnerable people earlier,
- to develop targeted interventions,
- and to better understand the mechanisms of resilience.
They also invite us to rethink schizophrenia not as a sudden break, but as a continuum of variations in brain functioning, where certain adaptations could play a protective role.
*PsyR² is a team from the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), under the supervision of CNRS, Inserm, Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University, Jean Monnet University.
• Discover the article: Emotion Processing in Schizophrenia: Insights From a Brain Imaging Study Comparing Patients, Siblings, and Healthy Controls, Anna M. et al. ; in Human Brain Mapping.
This text is a reprint of the article “Recognizing emotions: a hidden clue to schizophrenia? » published by CH Le Vinatier on April 14, 2026.
