Top

BMC Psychiatry

Published in:

Open Access 01-12-2021 | Mood Disorders | Research article

Efficient visual search for facial emotions in patients with major depression

Authors: Charlott Maria Bodenschatz, Felix Czepluch, Anette Kersting, Thomas Suslow

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2021

Abstract

Background

Major depressive disorder has been associated with specific attentional biases in processing emotional facial expressions: heightened attention for negative and decreased attention for positive faces. However, using visual search paradigms, previous reaction-time-based research failed, in general, to find evidence for increased spatial attention toward negative facial expressions and reduced spatial attention toward positive facial expressions in depressed individuals. Eye-tracking analyses allow for a more detailed examination of visual search processes over time during the perception of multiple stimuli and can provide more specific insights into the attentional processing of multiple emotional stimuli.

Methods

Gaze behavior of 38 clinically depressed individuals and 38 gender matched healthy controls was compared in a face-in-the-crowd task. Pictures of happy, angry, and neutral facial expressions were utilized as target and distractor stimuli. Four distinct measures of eye gaze served as dependent variables: (a) latency to the target face, (b) number of distractor faces fixated prior to fixating the target, (c) mean fixation time per distractor face before fixating the target and (d) mean fixation time on the target.

Results

Depressed and healthy individuals did not differ in their manual response times. Our eye-tracking data revealed no differences between study groups in attention guidance to emotional target faces as well as in the duration of attention allocation to emotional distractor and target faces. However, depressed individuals fixated fewer distractor faces before fixating the target than controls, regardless of valence of expressions.

Conclusions

Depressed individuals seem to process angry and happy expressions in crowds of faces mainly in the same way as healthy individuals. Our data indicate no biased attention guidance to emotional targets and no biased processing of angry and happy distractors and targets in depression during visual search. Under conditions of clear task demand depressed individuals seem to be able to allocate and guide their attention in crowds of angry and happy faces as efficiently as healthy individuals.

Available only for authorised users

Joormann J, Gotlib IH. Is this happiness I see? Biases in the identification of emotional facial expressions in depression and social phobia. J Abnorm Psychol. 2006;115:705–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.115.4.705.CrossRefPubMed

Surguladze SA, Young AW, Senior C, Brébion G, Travis MJ, Phillips ML. Recognition accuracy and response bias to happy and sad facial expressions in patients with major depression. Neuropsychology. 2004;18:212–8. https://doi.org/10.1037/0894-4105.18.2.212.CrossRefPubMed

Bourke C, Douglas K, Porter R. Processing of facial emotion expression in major depression: a review. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2010;44:681–96. https://doi.org/10.3109/00048674.2010.496359.CrossRefPubMed

Suslow T, Hußlack A, Kersting A, Bodenschatz CM. Attentional biases to emotional information in clinical depression: a systematic and meta-analytic review of eye tracking findings. J Affect Disord. 2020;274:632–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.05.140.CrossRefPubMed

Kellough JL, Beevers CG, Ellis AJ, Wells TT. Time course of selective attention in clinically depressed young adults: an eye tracking study. Behav Res Ther. 2008;46:1238–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2008.07.004.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Sanchez A, Vazquez C, Marker C, LeMoult J, Joormann J. Attentional disengagement predicts stress recovery in depression: an eye-tracking study. J Abnorm Psychol. 2013;122:303–13. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031529.CrossRefPubMed

Gotlib IH, Joormann J. Cognition and depression: current status and future directions. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2010;6:285–312. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.121208.131305.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Koster EHW, de Raedt R, Goeleven E, Franck E, Crombez G. Mood-congruent attentional bias in dysphoria: maintained attention to and impaired disengagement from negative information. Emotion. 2005;5:446–55. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.5.4.446.CrossRefPubMed

Wolfe JM. Guided Search 2.0 A revised model of visual search. Psychonom Bull Rev. 1994;1:202–38. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200774.CrossRef

10.

Wolfe JM, Horowitz TS. Five factors that guide attention in visual search. Nat Hum Behav. 2017;1:597. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0058.CrossRef

11.

Horstmann G, Becker S, Ernst D. Dwelling, rescanning, and skipping of distractors explain search efficiency in difficult search better than guidance by the target. Vis Cogn. 2017;25:291–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/13506285.2017.1347591.CrossRef

12.

Rinck M, Becker ES. A comparison of attentional biases and memory biases in women with social phobia and major depression. J Abnorm Psychol. 2005;114:62–74. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.114.1.62.CrossRefPubMed

13.

Suslow T, Junghanns K, Arolt V. Detection of facial expressions of emotions in depression. Percept Mot Skills. 2001;92:857–68. https://doi.org/10.2466/PMS.92.3.857-868.CrossRefPubMed

14.

Karparova SP, Kersting A, Suslow T. Disengagement of attention from facial emotion in unipolar depression. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2005;59:723–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1819.2005.01443.x.CrossRefPubMed

15.

Strand M, Sætrevik B, Lund A, Hammar Å. The relationship between residual symptoms of depression and emotional information processing. Nord J Psychiatry. 2013;67:233–9. https://doi.org/10.3109/08039488.2012.711857.CrossRefPubMed

16.

Suslow T, Dannlowski U, Lalee-Mentzel J, Donges U-S, Arolt V, Kersting A. Spatial processing of facial emotion in patients with unipolar depression: a longitudinal study. J Affect Disord. 2004;83:59–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2004.03.003.CrossRefPubMed

17.

Wisco BE, Treat TA, Hollingworth A. Visual attention to emotion in depression: facilitation and withdrawal processes. Cogn Emot. 2012;26:602–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2011.595392.CrossRefPubMed

18.

Gotlib IH, Kasch KL, Traill S, Joormann J, Arnow BA, Johnson SL. Coherence and specificity of information-processing biases in depression and social phobia. J Abnorm Psychol. 2004;113:386–98. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.113.3.386.CrossRefPubMed

19.

Rudaizky D, Basanovic J, MacLeod C. Biased attentional engagement with, and disengagement from, negative information: Independent cognitive pathways to anxiety vulnerability. Cogn Emot. 2014;28:245–59 Doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2013.815154.CrossRef

20.

Clarke PJF, MacLeod C, Guastella AJ. Assessing the role of spatial engagement and disengagement of attention in anxiety-linked attentional bias: a critique of current paradigms and suggestions for future research directions. Anxiety Stress Coping. 2013;26:1–19 doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2011.638054.CrossRef

21.

Leyman L, De Raedt R, Schacht R, Koster EHW. Attentional biases for angry faces in unipolar depression. Psychol Med. 2007;37:393–402.CrossRef

22.

Woody ML, Owens M, Burkhouse KL, Gibb BE. Selective attention toward angry faces and risk for major depressive disorder in women: converging evidence from retrospective and prospective analyses. Clin Psychol Sci. 2016;4:206–15.CrossRef

23.

Allen NB, Badcock PBT. The social risk hypothesis of depressed mood: evolutionary, psychosocial, and neurobiological perspectives. Psychol Bull. 2003;129:887–913.CrossRef

24.

Allen NB, Badcock PBT. Darwinian models of depression: a review of evolutionary accounts of mood and mood disorders. Prog Neuro-Psychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2006;30:815–26.CrossRef

25.

Becker DV, Anderson US, Mortensen CR, Neufeld SL, Neel R. The face in the crowd effect unconfounded: happy faces, not angry faces, are more efficiently detected in single- and multiple-target visual search tasks. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2011;140:637–59. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024060.CrossRefPubMed

26.

Horstmann G, Becker SI. More efficient visual search for happy faces may not indicate guidance, but rather faster distractor rejection: evidence from eye movements and fixations. Emotion. 2020;20:206–16. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000536.CrossRefPubMed

27.

Pinkham AE, Griffin M, Baron R, Sasson NJ, Gur RC. The face in the crowd effect: anger superiority when using real faces and multiple identities. Emotion. 2010;10:141–6. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017387.CrossRefPubMed

28.

Shasteen JR, Sasson NJ, Pinkham AE. Eye tracking the face in the crowd task: why are angry faces found more quickly. PLoS One. 2014;9:e93914. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093914.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

29.

Trapp W, Kalzendorf C, Baum C, Hajak G, Lautenbacher S. Attentional biases in patients suffering from unipolar depression: results of a dot probe task investigation. Psychiatry Res. 2018;261:325–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.01.005.CrossRefPubMed

30.

Wittchen H-U, Wunderlich U, Gruschwitz S, Zaudig M. Strukturiertes Klinisches Interview für DSM-IV. Achse I: Psychische Störungen. Interviewheft und Beurteilungsheft. Eine deutschsprachige, erweiterte Bearbeitung der amerikanischen Originalversion des SKID-I. Göttingen: Hogrefe; 1997.

31.

Hautzinger M, Keller F, Kühner C. BDI-II. Beck depressions-Inventar revision. Frankfurt am main. Germany: Harcourt Test Services; 2006.

32.

Bodenschatz CM, Skopinceva M, Kersting A, Quirin M, Suslow T. Implicit negative affect predicts attention to sad faces beyond self-reported depressive symptoms in healthy individuals: an eye-tracking study. Psychiatry Res. 2018;265:48–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.04.007.CrossRefPubMed

33.

Ackenheil M, Stotz-Ingenlath G, Dietz-Bauer R, Vossen A. MINI Mini international neuropsychiatric interview. German version 5.0. 0 DSM IV. Munich: Psychiatric University Clinic; 1999.

34.

Laux L, Glanzmann P, Schaffner P, Spielberger CD. Das State-Trait-Angstinventar. Theoretische Grundlagen und Handanweisungen. Weinheim: Beltz Testgesellschaft; 1981.

35.

Reitan RM. Trail Making Test. Tucson: Reitan Neuropsychology Laboratory; 1992.

36.

Ebner NC, Riediger M, Lindenberger U. FACES--a database of facial expressions in young, middle-aged, and older women and men: development and validation. Behav Res Methods. 2010;42:351–62. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.42.1.351.CrossRefPubMed

37.

Greenhouse SW, Geisser S. On methods in the analysis of profile data. Psychometrika. 1959;24:95–112. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02289823.CrossRef

38.

Parsons S, Kruijt AW, Fox E. Psychological science needs a standard practice of reporting the reliability of cognitive-behavioral measurements. Adv Methods Pract Psychol Sci. 2019;2:378–95 https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245919879695.CrossRef

39.

Parsons S. Split half: robust estimates of split half reliability. figshare. Software. 2020. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.11956746.v4.

40.

Faul F, Erdfelder E, Buchner A, Lang AG. Statistical power analyses using G*power 3.1: tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behav Res Methods. 2009;41:1149–60.CrossRef

41.

Savage RA, Lipp OV, Craig BM, Horstmann G. In search of the emotional face: Anger versus happiness superiority in visual search. Emotion. 2013;13:758–68 doi.org/10.1037/a0031970.CrossRef

42.

Öhman A, Lundqvist D, Esteves F. The face in the crowd revisited: A threat advantage with schematic stimuli. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2001;80:381–96 doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.3.381.CrossRef

43.

Eastwood JD, Smilek D, Merikle PM. Differential attentional guidance by unattended faces expressing positive and negative emotion. Percept Psychophys. 2001;63:1004–13 doi.org/10.3758/BF03194519.CrossRef

44.

Foland-Ross LC, Gotlib IH. Cognitive and neural aspects of information processing in major depressive disorder: an integrative perspective. Front Psychol. 2012;3:489.CrossRef

45.

Bistricky SL, Ingram RE, Atchley RA. Facial affect processing and depression susceptibility: cognitive biases and cognitive neuroscience. Psychol Bull. 2011;137:998–1028. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025348.CrossRefPubMed

46.

Victor TA, Furey ML, Fromm SJ, Öhman A, Drevets WC. Relationship between amygdala responses to masked faces and mood state and treatment in major depressive disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010;67:1128–38. https://doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.144.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

47.

Stuhrmann A, Dohm K, Kugel H, Zwanzger P, Redlich R, Grotegerd D, et al. Mood-congruent amygdala responses to subliminally presented facial expressions in major depression: associations with anhedonia. J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2013;38:249–58. https://doi.org/10.1503/jpn.120060.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

48.

Nummenmaa L, Calvo MG. Dissociation between recognition and detection advantage for facial expressions: a meta-analysis. Emotion. 2015;15:243–56. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000042.CrossRefPubMed

49.

Eastwood JD, Smilek D, Oakman JM, Farvolden P, van Ameringen M, Mancini C, et al. Individuals with social phobia are biased to become aware of negative faces. Vis Cogn. 2005;12:159–79 doi.org/10.1080/13506280444000175.CrossRef

50.

Duque A, Vázquez C. Double attention bias for positive and negative emotional faces in clinical depression: evidence from an eye-tracking study. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2015;46:107–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2014.09.005.CrossRefPubMed

51.

Soltani S, Newman K, Quigley L, Fernandez A, Dobson K, Sears C. Temporal changes in attention to sad and happy faces distinguish currently and remitted depressed individuals from never depressed individuals. Psychiatry Res. 2015;230:454–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2015.09.036.CrossRefPubMed

52.

Armstrong T, Olatunji BO. Eye tracking of attention in the affective disorders: a meta-analytic review and synthesis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2012;32:704–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.09.004.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

53.

Basanovic J, MacLeod C. Does anxiety-linked attentional bias to threatening information reflect bias in the setting of attentional goals, or bias in the execution of attentional goals? Cogn Emot. 2017;31:538–51 https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2016.1138931.CrossRef

54.

Derakshan N, Koster EHW. Processing efficiency in anxiety: evidence from eye-movements during visual search. Behav Res Ther. 2010;48:1180–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2010.08.009.CrossRefPubMed

55.

Ellis AJ, Wells TT, Vanderlind WM, Beevers CG. The role of controlled attention on recall in major depression. Cogn Emot. 2014;28:520–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2013.832153.CrossRefPubMed

Title: Efficient visual search for facial emotions in patients with major depression
Authors: Charlott Maria Bodenschatz
Felix Czepluch
Anette Kersting
Thomas Suslow
Publication date: 01-12-2021
Publisher: BioMed Central
Keywords: Mood Disorders
Affective Disorder
Published in: BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03093-6

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Efficient visual search for facial emotions in patients with major depression

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2021

The psychometric properties of the Bergen–Yale sex addiction scale for the Iranian population

A qualitative study of stakeholder views on the use of a digital app for supported self-management in early intervention services for psychosis

Validity and reliability of a Persian version of the self- evaluation of negative symptoms (SNS)

Recommendations for occupational therapy interventions for adults with ADHD: a consensus statement from the UK adult ADHD network

Health anxiety and related factors among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study from Iran

Prevalence of depression and associated factors among elderly people in Womberma District, north-west, Ethiopia