title: Reduced detection of positive expressions in major depression.
abstract: In patients with depression, negative biases have been reported in various cognitive domains, but few studies have examined whether even detection is affected, i.e. are depressed patients more likely to detect the presence of negative stimuli? This study compared detection of sad and happy faces in patients (n=17) and healthy participants (n=18) using an attentional blink task. Patients with depression detected significantly fewer happy faces than matched healthy participants, but for sad faces the group difference was non-significant. The results suggest that depression may affect the detection of positive stimuli.
authors.affiliation: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, Netherlands. Electronic address: m.v.milders@vu.nl.
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Milders
authors.affiliation: Heriot-Watt University, Department of Psychology, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; NHS Grampian, Mental Health Services, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: NHS Highland, Older People's Clinical Psychology Service, Inverness, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.affiliation: NHS Highland, General Adult Psychiatric Service, Inverness, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Lewis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.affiliation: NHS Grampian, Mental Health Services, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ravindra
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mutha
authors.affiliation: NHS Grampian, Mental Health Services, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hay
authors.affiliation: NHS Grampian, Mental Health Services, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Anitha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gopala
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D001767:Blinking; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011581:Psychological Tests
keywords: Attentional blink; Depression; Detection; Emotional expressions