Table 1.

Main characteristics of positive symptoms versus negative symptoms.

Positive symptoms	Negative symptoms*
Unspecific: Present in the general population (continuum) and in psychiatric diagnosis at large, being a marker of severity	Present to a minor extent in some psychiatric diagnosis; far more related to schizophrenia
Dopaminergic (D2) dysfunction observed all accross the phenotipic continuum of psychosis	Serotonine, acetyl-choline, and mainly glutamate dysfunction. May affect dopamine receptors (D1, D3, D4)
Temporal lobe, limbic areas	Frontal and prefrontal cortex
Amenable to adaptation, generally responsive to antipsychotics	Insidious onset, enduring, do not respond to medication, generates disability
More evident, draw physician’s and public attention, related to stigma	Furtive, may progress unnoted, less related to stigma
Generally do not predict outcome in schizophrenia	Related to worse outcome in schizophrenia

*Primary negative symptoms, not including secondary negative symptoms.