Individuals with schizophrenia with blunted affect show activation in the following brain regions when shown emotionally negative pictures: midbrain, pons, anterior temporal pole and extrastriate visual cortex.

Individuals with schizophrenia without blunted affect show activation in the following brain areas when shown emotionally negative pictures: midbrain, pons, anterior cingulate cortex, insula, ventrolateral orbitofrontal cortex, anterior temporal pole, amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex and extrastriate visual cortex. Individuals with schizophrenia with blunted affect show different regional brain activity in fMRI scans when presented with emotional stimuli compared to individuals with schizophrenia without blunted affect. Factor 1 of the Psychopathy Checklist identifies shallow affect as a common attribute of psychopathy. Shallow affect has equivalent meaning to blunted affect. A person with blunted affect, on the other hand, has a significantly reduced intensity in emotional expression'.

They may not react at all to circumstances that usually evoke strong emotions in others. A person with flat affect has no or nearly no emotional expression.

'The difference between flat and blunted affect is in degree. Blunted and flat affect īlunted affect is a lack of affect more severe than restricted or constricted affect, but less severe than flat or flattened affect. Types Constricted affect Ī restricted or constricted affect is a reduction in an individual's expressive range and the intensity of emotional responses. Reduced affect should be distinguished from apathy and anhedonia, which explicitly refer to a lack of emotional sensation. It may also be a side effect of certain medications (e.g., antipsychotics and antidepressants ). Reduced affect can be symptomatic of autism, schizophrenia, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, depersonalization disorder, schizoid personality disorder or brain damage. Expressive gestures are rare and there is little animation in facial expression or vocal inflection. It manifests as a failure to express feelings either verbally or nonverbally, especially when talking about issues that would normally be expected to engage the emotions. Reduced affect display, sometimes referred to as emotional blunting or emotional numbing, is a condition of reduced emotional reactivity in an individual. Condition of reduced emotional reactivity in an individual

What is the flat affect