Motivational abnormalities represent a key area of dysfunction in individuals with, or at risk for, schizophrenia and severely limit broad domains of functioning in these populations. The aberrant salience hypothesis posits that motivational abnormalities are the result of an over-attribution of salience to nonpleasurable stimuli but an under-attribution of salience to pleasurable ones. Consequently, people “want” what they do not “like” but do not “want” what they “like.” However, it is unclear how this hypothesis manifests in schizophrenia risk beyond monetary rewards. The current research provided a multimodal investigation of the aberrant salience hypothesis in people with elevated psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) who are at risk for developing psychosis. Study 1 examined the link between liking and incentive salience using a neurobiological indicator of incentive salience (contingent negative variation/CNV) in 23 PLEs and 21 Control participants. The PLEs group showed diminished CNV reactivity to pleasant (vs. neutral) social images, which was driven by an augmented response to neutral stimuli. Study 2 examined liking, incentive salience, and conscious wanting experience using a psychological indicator of incentive salience (positive spontaneous thoughts/PSTs) in 38 PLEs and 246 Control participants. The PLEs group showed diminished correspondence between liking, PSTs, and conscious wanting across diverse reward contexts. Collectively, individuals with PLEs over-attribute salience to neutral stimuli and, to a lesser degree, under-attribute salience to rewards. Findings of the current research support abnormal salience attribution as a trait-like feature implicated in the pathophysiology and development of schizophrenia and provide valuable insights on research and treatment of this illness.

动机异常代表了精神分裂症患者或有患精神分裂症风险的个体功能障碍的关键领域，并严重限制了这些人群的广泛功能领域。异常显着性假说认为，动机异常是显着性过度归因于不愉快刺激，而显着性归因于不愉快刺激的结果。因此，人们“想要”他们不“喜欢”的东西，但不“想要”他们“喜欢”的东西。然而，目前尚不清楚这一假设如何体现在金钱奖励之外的精神分裂症风险中。当前的研究提供了对有精神病样经历 (PLE) 的人的异常显着性假设的多模式调查，这些人有患精神病的风险。研究 1 在 23 名 PLE 和 21 名对照组参与者中使用激励显着性的神经生物学指标（或有负变化/CNV）检查了喜好和激励显着性之间的联系。PLEs 组对令人愉快的（相对于中性的）社交图像的 CNV 反应减弱，这是由对中性刺激的增强反应驱动的。研究 2 在 38 名 PLE 和 246 名对照组参与者中使用激励显着性的心理指标（积极的自发性想法/PST）检查了喜好、激励性显着性和有意识的想要体验。PLEs 组在不同奖励背景下的喜好、PST 和有意识的需求之间的对应关系减弱。总的来说，具有 PLE 的个体过度将显着性归因于中性刺激，并在较小程度上将显着性归因于奖励。