Eye movement characteristics of emotional face recognizing task in patients with mild to moderate depression

ObjectiveDepression is a complex affective disorder characterized by high prevalence and severe impact, commonly presenting with cognitive impairment. The objective diagnosis of depression lacks precise standards. This study investigates eye movement characteristics during emotional face recognition...

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Main Authors: Qian Yang, Yanyan Fu, Qiuli Yang, Dongqing Yin, Yanan Zhao, Hao Wang, Han Zhang, Yanran Sun, Xinyi Xie, Jian Du
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Neuroscience
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2024.1482849/full
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author Qian Yang
Yanyan Fu
Qiuli Yang
Dongqing Yin
Yanan Zhao
Hao Wang
Han Zhang
Yanran Sun
Xinyi Xie
Jian Du
author_facet Qian Yang
Yanyan Fu
Qiuli Yang
Dongqing Yin
Yanan Zhao
Hao Wang
Han Zhang
Yanran Sun
Xinyi Xie
Jian Du
author_sort Qian Yang
collection DOAJ
description ObjectiveDepression is a complex affective disorder characterized by high prevalence and severe impact, commonly presenting with cognitive impairment. The objective diagnosis of depression lacks precise standards. This study investigates eye movement characteristics during emotional face recognition task (EFRT) in depressive patients to provide empirical support for objective diagnosis.MethodsWe recruited 43 patients with depression (Depressive patients, DP) from a psychiatric hospital and 44 healthy participants (Healthy Control, HC) online. All participants completed an EFRT comprising 120 trials. Each trial presented a gray screen for 800 ms followed by a stimulus image for judgment. Emotions were categorized as positive, neutral, or negative. Eye movement trajectories were recorded throughout the task. Latency of First Fixation (LFF), Latency of First Fixation for Eye AOI, and Latency of First Fixation for Mouth AOI were used as representative indicators of early attention, Proportion of Eye AOI, and Proportion of Mouth AOI as measures of intermediate attention, Accuracy (ACC) and Reaction Time (RT) as behavioral indicators of late-stage attention. In this study, these metrics were employed to explore the differences between patients with depression and healthy individuals.ResultsCompared to healthy participants, individuals with depression exhibit longer first fixation latencies on the eyes and mouth during the early attention stage of emotional face recognition, indicating an avoidance tendency toward key facial recognition cues. In the mid-to-late attention stages, depressive individuals show an increased fixation ratio on the eyes and a decreased fixation ratio on the mouth, along with lower accuracy and longer response times. These findings suggest that, relative to healthy individuals, individuals with depression have deficits in facial recognition.ConclusionThis study identified distinct attention patterns and cognitive deficits in emotional face recognition among individuals with depression compared to healthy individuals, providing an attention-based approach for exploring potential clinical diagnostic markers for depression.
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spelling doaj-art-178604376ba5465d87a2f6015b77e5712025-08-20T02:32:42ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2024-11-011810.3389/fnins.2024.14828491482849Eye movement characteristics of emotional face recognizing task in patients with mild to moderate depressionQian Yang0Yanyan Fu1Qiuli Yang2Dongqing Yin3Yanan Zhao4Hao Wang5Han Zhang6Yanran Sun7Xinyi Xie8Jian Du9Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, ChinaInstitute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, ChinaInstitute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, ChinaBeijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaInstitute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, ChinaInstitute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, ChinaShandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, ChinaJiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaInstitute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, ChinaInstitute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, ChinaObjectiveDepression is a complex affective disorder characterized by high prevalence and severe impact, commonly presenting with cognitive impairment. The objective diagnosis of depression lacks precise standards. This study investigates eye movement characteristics during emotional face recognition task (EFRT) in depressive patients to provide empirical support for objective diagnosis.MethodsWe recruited 43 patients with depression (Depressive patients, DP) from a psychiatric hospital and 44 healthy participants (Healthy Control, HC) online. All participants completed an EFRT comprising 120 trials. Each trial presented a gray screen for 800 ms followed by a stimulus image for judgment. Emotions were categorized as positive, neutral, or negative. Eye movement trajectories were recorded throughout the task. Latency of First Fixation (LFF), Latency of First Fixation for Eye AOI, and Latency of First Fixation for Mouth AOI were used as representative indicators of early attention, Proportion of Eye AOI, and Proportion of Mouth AOI as measures of intermediate attention, Accuracy (ACC) and Reaction Time (RT) as behavioral indicators of late-stage attention. In this study, these metrics were employed to explore the differences between patients with depression and healthy individuals.ResultsCompared to healthy participants, individuals with depression exhibit longer first fixation latencies on the eyes and mouth during the early attention stage of emotional face recognition, indicating an avoidance tendency toward key facial recognition cues. In the mid-to-late attention stages, depressive individuals show an increased fixation ratio on the eyes and a decreased fixation ratio on the mouth, along with lower accuracy and longer response times. These findings suggest that, relative to healthy individuals, individuals with depression have deficits in facial recognition.ConclusionThis study identified distinct attention patterns and cognitive deficits in emotional face recognition among individuals with depression compared to healthy individuals, providing an attention-based approach for exploring potential clinical diagnostic markers for depression.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2024.1482849/fulleye movementdepressionAOIemotional facial expression recognitioncognitive deficit
spellingShingle Qian Yang
Yanyan Fu
Qiuli Yang
Dongqing Yin
Yanan Zhao
Hao Wang
Han Zhang
Yanran Sun
Xinyi Xie
Jian Du
Eye movement characteristics of emotional face recognizing task in patients with mild to moderate depression
Frontiers in Neuroscience
eye movement
depression
AOI
emotional facial expression recognition
cognitive deficit
title Eye movement characteristics of emotional face recognizing task in patients with mild to moderate depression
title_full Eye movement characteristics of emotional face recognizing task in patients with mild to moderate depression
title_fullStr Eye movement characteristics of emotional face recognizing task in patients with mild to moderate depression
title_full_unstemmed Eye movement characteristics of emotional face recognizing task in patients with mild to moderate depression
title_short Eye movement characteristics of emotional face recognizing task in patients with mild to moderate depression
title_sort eye movement characteristics of emotional face recognizing task in patients with mild to moderate depression
topic eye movement
depression
AOI
emotional facial expression recognition
cognitive deficit
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2024.1482849/full
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