145 Original article • Articolo originale Journal of Psycopathology 2012;18:145-155 Summary Objectives Anhedonia, a term proposed by Ribot in 1896, is an inability to feel pleasure in situations or activities that are normally pleasing. In this review, the authors describe the psychopath- ological features of anhedonia in schizophrenia and major depression. Methods Exhaustive review of the international literature (in Medline, PubMed, PsychINFO) on anhedonia in schizophrenia and ma- jor depression. Results In both schizophrenia and major depression, anhedonia is con- sidered both as a state (symptom) and a personological trait (Figs. 1-4). Conclusions Anhedonia cannot be considered as a specific psychopathologi- cal feature of major depression (Table I), but appears to be a problematic psychological condition that is difficult to interpret due to its nosographical transversality. Key words Anhedonia • Schizophrenia • Major depression Anhedonia in schizophrenia and major depression: state or trait? Review of the literature L’anedonia nella schizofrenia e nella depressione maggiore: stato o tratto? Rassegna della letteratura L. Pelizza * , S. Pupo ** , A. Ferrari * *  Centro di Salute Mentale di Guastalla (RE), Dipartimento di Salute Mentale di Reggio Emilia, AUSL di Reggio Emilia; **  Servizio di Anestesia, Rianimazione e Terapia Antalgica, Ospedale Civile di Guastalla, AUSL di Reggio Emilia Correspondence Lorenzo Pelizza, CSM di Guastalla, via Salvo D’Acquisto 7, 42016 Guastalla (RE), Italia • Tel. +39 0522 837561 • Fax +39 0522 838980 • E-mail: anolino@yahoo.it Introduction … I’m like the king of a rain-soaked country, rich but impotent, young in senility, who despises his tutors’ servile features, as bored with his dogs as with other creatures. His favourite fool’s most grotesque antic won’t calm this brow so cruelly sick. (Baudelaire, Spleen [The Flowers of Evil], 1857)  1 The term “anhedonia” traditionally refers to a specific psychopathological condition characterized by a deficit in the ability to experience pleasure in activities and situ- ations usually considered gratifying  2 . The condition can present as diffuse (and therefore relative to all aspects of existence) or can be limited to some areas, such as inter- personal relations (social anhedonia), food, sexuality or somatosensorial experiences in general (physical anhe- donia)  3 . The word “anhedonia” was introduced by the French psychologist Ribot  4 to describe a “pathological insensibility to pleasure” seen in several severe psychiat- ric diseases. “The state of anhedonia”, he wrote, “if I may coin a new word to pair off with analgesia, has been very little studied, but it exists. I need not say that the employ- ment of anaesthetics suppresses at the same time pain and its contrary, […] and there are, undoubtedly, clinical cases characterized by the isolated lack of pleasure, that render these patients absolutely unable to find gratifica- tion from any sexual activity, food, relation or affection”. The main difficulty in understanding and defining an- hedonic behaviour is primarily related to its peculiar characteristic of nosographic transversality 2 , as it can involve a number of widely-different psychiatric dis- turbances in a non-specific manner. Along these lines, in fact, Silverstone  5 observed that substantial anhedo- nia was present in more than 50% of patients with a generic diagnosis of mental disease. In particular, the inability to experience pleasure is a complex symp- tom of both major depression and psychopathological syndromes belonging to the schizophrenic spectrum 6 . Manna et al.  7 , Koob and Le Moal  8 , moreover, attrib- uted a relevant role to anhedonia in the pathogenesis of eating and substance abuse disorders, which accord- ing to these authors, is based on hedonic homeostatic dysregulation with a dopaminergic origin. Bermanzhon and Siris  9 argue that it may also be part of the constel- lation of symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (and thereby predominantly neurologic), hypothesizing the existence of a specific extrapyramidal neuropsychiatric syndrome