The world looks different if you're depressed

Source: 30 November 2009

Not so easy to spot the finer details.

(Image: Jason Todd/Getty)

The world looks different if you're depressed

by Jessica Hamzelou

"Depression is not just a mood disorder: now we know it can affect the way a person sees the world."

DEPRESSION really does change the way you see the world. People with the condition find it easy to interpret large images or scenes, but struggle to "spot the difference" in fine detail. The finding hints at visual training as a possible treatment.

Depressed people have a shortage of a neurotransmitter called GABA; this has also been linked to a visual skill called spatial suppression, which helps us suppress details surrounding the object our eyes are focused on - enabling us to pick out a snake in fallen leaves, for instance.

Now Julie Golomb and colleagues at Yale University are trying to link this ability with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Article continues.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427365.000-the-world-looks-different-if-youre-depressed.html

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