Study: Depression affects visual perception … making it more accurate

The brightness of Figures A and B is exactly the same, but they are perceived differently due to a difference in the background. This illusion was perceived similarly by the patients and healthy control subjects. The contrast of Figures C and D is exactly the same as well, but the perception of this illusion was weaker among the depressed patients than the control subjects. (Salmela et al, J. Psychiatry Neurosci, 2021) Depression affects visual perception (press release by University of Helsinki): Researchers specialised in psychiatry and psychology at the University of Helsinki investigated the effects of depression on visual perception. The study confirmed that the processing of visual information is altered in depressed people, a phenomenon most likely linked with the processing of information in the cerebral cortex. In the study, the processing of visual information by patients with depression was compared to that of a control group by utilising two visual tests. In the perception tests, the study subjects compared the brightness and contrast of simple patterns. “What came as a surprise was that depressed patients perceived the contrast of the images shown differently from non-depressed individuals,” says Academy of Finland Research Fellow Viljami Salmela … “It would be beneficial to assess and further develop the usability of perception tests, as both research methods and potential ways of identifying disturbances of information processing in patients,” Salmela...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Brain/ Mental Health Education & Lifelong Learning behavioural tests Cerebral Cortex cortical processing depression electrophysiology perception tests psychiatry Psychology visual-perception Source Type: blogs