Contrast sensitivity in seasonal and nonseasonal depression

Wesner, Michael F.; Tan, Josephine C. H.

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2006.03.028

Cited by 22 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Consistent with this hypothesis, visual neuroscience research uses visual CS to evaluate and diagnose changes in optic and neural structures related to diseases that are not directly related to visual changes, such as depression (Wesner & Tan, 2006), schizophrenia (Slaghuis & Thompson, 2003), and malnutrition (Santos, Alencar, & Dias, 2009;Santos & Alencar, 2010), among others.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual contrast sensitivity in tonic-clonic epileptic patients.

Bezerra¹,

Alencar²,

Mousinho³

et al. 2011

Psychology & Neuroscience

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We measured the effects of epilepsy on visual contrast sensitivity to linear and vertical sine-wave gratings. Sixteen female adults, aged 21 to 50 years, comprised the sample in this study, including eight adults with generalized tonic-clonic seizure-type epilepsy and eight age-matched controls without epilepsy. Contrast threshold was measured using a temporal two-alternative forced-choice binocular psychophysical method at a distance of 150 cm from the stimuli, with a mean luminance of 40.1 cd/m 2 . A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) applied to the linear contrast threshold showed significant differences between groups (F[3,188] = 14.829; p < .05). Adults with epilepsy had higher contrast thresholds (1.45, 1.04, and 1.18 times for frequencies of 0.25, 2.0, and 8.0 cycles per degree of visual angle, respectively). The Tukey Honestly Significant Difference post hoc test showed significant differences (p < .05) for all of the tested spatial frequencies. The largest difference between groups was in the lowest spatial frequency. Therefore, epilepsy may cause more damage to the neural pathways that process low spatial frequencies. However, epilepsy probably alters both the magnocellular visual pathway, which processes low spatial frequencies, and the parvocellular visual pathway, which processes high spatial frequencies. The experimental group had lower visual contrast sensitivity to all tested spatial frequencies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual contrast sensitivity in tonic-clonic epileptic patients.

Bezerra¹,

Alencar²,

Mousinho³

et al. 2011

Psychology & Neuroscience

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Visual CS is one of the most widely used tools in the diagnosis and theoretical and clinical evaluation of changes in visual perception and alterations in the central nervous system (Wesner & Tan, 2006) caused by disorders or diseases, such as schizophrenia (Slaghuis & Thompson, 2003), amblyopia (Polat, Sagi, & Norcia, 1997), cataracts (Elliott & Situ, 1998), mercury poisoning (Ventura et al, 2005), stroke (Santos & Andrade, 2012;Santos, Andrade, & Fernandez Calvo, 2013), and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases (Polat et al, 1997;Akutsu & Legge, 1995;Bour & Apkarian, 1996;Vleugels et al, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Surveys related to visual CS and affective disorders are still sparse, with only a few studies performed under different conditions and for different purposes (Wesner & Tan, 2006;Cavalcanti & Santos, 2005;Szabó et al, 2004). For example, Szabó et al (2004) measured visual CS in volunteers with and without seasonal affective disorder using static and dynamic sine-wave gratings with spatial frequencies from .5 to 14.4 cycles per degree (cpd) of visual angle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wesner & Tan (Wesner & Tan, 2006) measured contrast thresholds in patients with seasonal depression and major depression and volunteers without depression using static and dynamic visual stimuli modulated by Gabor's function with spatial frequencies from .3 to 12 cpd under photopic luminance conditions. The results showed that participants with depression had higher visual CS than the group without depression at high static spatial frequencies of 6.0 and 12 cpd.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The present study was motivated by the assumption that depression alters the central nervous system and affects numerous sensory, cognitive, and emotional function to promote changes in visual pathways (Wesner & Tan, 2006). Visual CS is an objective tool, noninvasive, and widely used clinically to contribute to a greater understanding of the sensory mechanisms associated with symptoms of depression.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Mesopic Visual Contrast Sensitivity in Patients with Major Depression

Nogueira¹,

Espínola²,

Lacerda³

et al. 2013

OJD

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The present study evaluated the effects of major depression on visual contrast sensitivity (CS) at low mesopic luminance (.7 cd/m 2 mean luminance), a condition that has been little explored in the literature. We measured spatial visual CS in 20 male volunteers aged 20 -30 years, including 10 healthy individuals and 10 medicated individuals with major depression, to linear sine-wave gratings of .25, 1.0, and 4.0 cycles per degree (cpd) of visual angle using the psychophysical staircase method with forced choice. The average spatial visual CS in the depressed group was approximately 1.7 lower than the average spatial visual CS in the control group. However, the post hoc test showed significant differences only at the spatial frequencies of .25 and 1.0 cpd (p < .05), which are likely processed by the magnocellular visual pathway. These results suggest that spatial visual CS to sine-wave gratings should be used to evaluate the responsiveness of the visual system in patients with major depression under conditions of low luminance.

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Stable abnormalities of contrast discrimination sensitivity in subthreshold depression: A longitudinal study

2022

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Subthreshold depression (StD), as a subclinical state, is highly prevalent and increases the risk for developing major depressive disorder (MDD). Although several studies have reported deficits of contrast sensitivity in MDD patients, it is unclear whether individuals with StD could demonstrate deficits of contrast sensitivity and whether the deficits could remain stable over time. Here we used a contrast discrimination task (a suprathreshold task) and a contrast detection task (a near‐threshold task) to compare contrast sensitivity of the StD group with that of matched non‐depressed controls. For each task, a spatial four‐alternative forced‐choice method and a psychophysical QUEST procedure were used to measure contrast discrimination threshold or contrast detection threshold. Participants performed an initial assessment and a follow‐up assessment 4 months later. Compared to the non‐depressed controls, individuals with StD demonstrated reduced contrast discrimination sensitivity, not only at the initial assessment but also at the follow‐up assessment, indicating a stable abnormality. Contrast discrimination thresholds at the initial assessment did not predict changes of depression symptom severity over time. For contrast detection sensitivity, there was no significant difference between the StD group and non‐depressed controls. We concluded that contrast discrimination testing might provide a trait‐dependent biomarker for depression.

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Contrast sensitivity in seasonal and nonseasonal depression

Cited by 22 publications

References 58 publications

Visual contrast sensitivity in tonic-clonic epileptic patients.

Visual contrast sensitivity in tonic-clonic epileptic patients.

Mesopic Visual Contrast Sensitivity in Patients with Major Depression

Stable abnormalities of contrast discrimination sensitivity in subthreshold depression: A longitudinal study

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