Individuals with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) exhibit disturbed emotional processes. However, it is not clear whether different symptoms of the SPD are associated to less efficient or in contrast increased attention to emotions and to subsequent difficulty to regulate them.

We used Event-Related potentials (ERPs) to examine the relationships between different dimensions of SPD and two facets of emotional processing: the perception of emotions from other's face and the ability to regulate one's own emotions while viewing emotional pictures.

ERPs were recorded from fifty-five individuals, who completed the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), during the passive presentation of neutral and emotional faces (study1) and pictures (study 2). ERPs data were analyzed in order to encompass early (perception and attention: P100, N170, P200, P300) and late (emotional regulation: Late Positive Potential -LPP) stages of emotional processing.

Higher SPQ score was related to lower P100 amplitude following face but not following picture presentation. Lower P100 amplitude was correlated with higher “Ideas of Reference” and “Suspiciousness” scores. In addition, higher “Suspiciousness” score was related to lower P300 amplitude evoked by face but not by picture presentation. Following the presentation of pictures with high emotional intensity, higher SPQ scores were related to larger and longer-lasting LPP.

Individuals with high SPD traits exhibited less efficient processing of emotions from human faces in early stage of emotional processing. They also showed difficulties to regulate their own emotions provoked by emotional pictures.