Study shows depressed people see the world differently

Depression doesn't make brown eyes blue, but it can change visual perception, according to Tel Aviv University researchers. A team headed by Dr. Uri Polat of TAU's Goldschleger Eye Institute compared the visual perception of healthy people to those hospitalized for depression. The clinically depressed lacked the ability to fill in parts of a picture when those parts were missing or faint.

"Vision is processed in the brain, and we already know that depression affects cognitive functioning," says Polat. The new results linking depression to eyesight could result in a new tool to accurately diagnose depression."

To investigate the effects of depression on visual perception, he developed a test that let him assess "the filling-in process" that a healthy mind performs when looking at objects. The researchers asked 27 control subjects and 32 patients hospitalized for depression to look at identical images and report what they saw. The control subjects were able to "see" missing parts, while the depressed ones were not.

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This is an interesting study. I wonder what the missing parts were? Were they looking at the types of pictures that had pictures in them? like this one?



What are your thoughts?

reply to post by baseball101


Upon reading I noticed they said this was being considered as a new test. One of the defining symptoms of depression is a lack of interest. If someone feels bad about their standing in the world, I doubt that they would have an intense interest in doing a task provided for them.

Most people looking at this thread would approach with a peaked interest along the lines of "I wonder if I can do this to prove whether I'm depressed or not". Likewise, if the control was informed what it was testing for, I'm sure an equally peaked interest would be present.

As a medical test to prove depression, I would not put much stock into it, but it is interesting that someones lack of interest can extend to their surroundings and how their senses interpret them. I wonder if they extended this testing to the other senses if the results would be similar. That'd be the proof one way or the other.

[edit on 26-5-2009 by Eitimzevinten]

Everyone perceives things differently, some more, some less.

Just look at it this was:

Your thoughts determine your words
Your words determine your actions
Your actions determine your life

Hence a depressed person will have a more negative view of life and what's around him.