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Concept
Anhedonia
Summary
Anhedonia is a diverse array of deficits in hedonic function, including reduced motivation or ability to experience pleasure. While earlier definitions emphasized the inability to experience pleasure, anhedonia is currently used by researchers to refer to reduced motivation, reduced anticipatory pleasure (wanting), reduced consummatory pleasure (liking), and deficits in reinforcement learning. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), anhedonia is a component of depressive disorders, substance-related disorders, psychotic disorders, and personality disorders, where it is defined by either a reduced ability to experience pleasure, or a diminished interest in engaging in pleasurable activities. While the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) does not explicitly mention anhedonia, the depressive symptom analogous to anhedonia as described in the DSM-5 is a loss of interest or pleasure.
While anhedonia was originally defined in 1896 by Théodule-Armand Ribot as the reduced ability to experience pleasure, it has been used to refer to deficits in multiple facets of reward. Re-conceptualizations of anhedonia highlight the independence of "wanting" and "liking". "Wanting" is a component of anticipatory positive affect, mediating both the motivation (i.e. incentive salience) to engage with reward, as well as the positive emotions associated with anticipating a reward. "Liking", on the other hand, is associated with the pleasure derived from consuming a reward. The consciousness of reward-related processes has also been used to categorize reward in the context of anhedonia, as studies comparing implicit behavior versus explicit self-reports demonstrate a dissociation of the two. Learning has also been proposed as an independent facet of reward that may be impaired in conditions associated with anhedonia, but empirical evidence dissociating learning from either "liking" or "wanting" is lacking.
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