Emotional stimulation processing characteristics in depression: Meta-analysis of eye tracking findings

ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the attentional bias in patients with depression toward emotional stimuli and to explore eye movement indicators and potential regulatory variables that can distinguish such patients from healthy individuals.MethodsCase–control studies regarding eye-tracking in ma...

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Main Authors: Genying Huang, Yafang Li, Huizhong Zhu, Hong Feng, Xunbing Shen, Zhencai Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1089654/full
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author Genying Huang
Yafang Li
Yafang Li
Huizhong Zhu
Hong Feng
Xunbing Shen
Xunbing Shen
Zhencai Chen
Zhencai Chen
author_facet Genying Huang
Yafang Li
Yafang Li
Huizhong Zhu
Hong Feng
Xunbing Shen
Xunbing Shen
Zhencai Chen
Zhencai Chen
author_sort Genying Huang
collection DOAJ
description ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the attentional bias in patients with depression toward emotional stimuli and to explore eye movement indicators and potential regulatory variables that can distinguish such patients from healthy individuals.MethodsCase–control studies regarding eye-tracking in major depressive disorder published in PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, The Cochrane Library, EBSCOhost, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and VIP databases from database initiation until March 12, 2022 were included in the present meta-analysis. Two researchers independently screened the literature and performed data extraction. The quality of the literature was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa quality assessment scale.RevMan 5.4 software was used for Meta-analysis.ResultsOverall, 14 studies were included, including 1,167 participants (Ndepression = 474; Nhealthy = 693). We found that (1) fixation duration was significantly lower for positive emotional stimuli in the depression group than that in the healthy group; however, for negative stimuli, the fixation duration was significantly more in the depression group than in the healthy group. No significant difference was observed in terms of neutral emotional stimuli between groups. (2) Patients with depression exhibited a significantly lower fixation count for positive emotional stimuli than healthy individuals, whereas the fixation count for negative emotional stimuli was significantly higher in the depression group than in the healthy group. No significant difference was found for neutral emotional stimuli between groups. (3) No significant difference was detected in terms of the first fixation duration of the positive, negative, and neutral emotional stimuli between groups. (4) subgroup analysis indicated that age effected fixation duration for positive emotional stimuli. In addition, age and the type of negative emotional picture (sad, dysphoric, threat, anger) effected fixation duration for negative emotional stimuli.ConclusionOur research supports that patients with depression exhibit a negative attention bias toward emotional stimuli, and the fixation duration and fixation counts may be used as auxiliary objective indicators for depression screening.
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spelling doaj.art-6e87d66cbc3e4fdeb0a99f533eef548b2023-01-13T06:00:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-01-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.10896541089654Emotional stimulation processing characteristics in depression: Meta-analysis of eye tracking findingsGenying Huang0Yafang Li1Yafang Li2Huizhong Zhu3Hong Feng4Xunbing Shen5Xunbing Shen6Zhencai Chen7Zhencai Chen8College of Humanities, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaCollege of Humanities, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Psychology of TCM and Brain Science, Jiangxi Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaCollege of Acupuncture and Massage, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaCollege of Humanities, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaCollege of Humanities, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Psychology of TCM and Brain Science, Jiangxi Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaCollege of Humanities, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Psychology of TCM and Brain Science, Jiangxi Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the attentional bias in patients with depression toward emotional stimuli and to explore eye movement indicators and potential regulatory variables that can distinguish such patients from healthy individuals.MethodsCase–control studies regarding eye-tracking in major depressive disorder published in PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, The Cochrane Library, EBSCOhost, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and VIP databases from database initiation until March 12, 2022 were included in the present meta-analysis. Two researchers independently screened the literature and performed data extraction. The quality of the literature was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa quality assessment scale.RevMan 5.4 software was used for Meta-analysis.ResultsOverall, 14 studies were included, including 1,167 participants (Ndepression = 474; Nhealthy = 693). We found that (1) fixation duration was significantly lower for positive emotional stimuli in the depression group than that in the healthy group; however, for negative stimuli, the fixation duration was significantly more in the depression group than in the healthy group. No significant difference was observed in terms of neutral emotional stimuli between groups. (2) Patients with depression exhibited a significantly lower fixation count for positive emotional stimuli than healthy individuals, whereas the fixation count for negative emotional stimuli was significantly higher in the depression group than in the healthy group. No significant difference was found for neutral emotional stimuli between groups. (3) No significant difference was detected in terms of the first fixation duration of the positive, negative, and neutral emotional stimuli between groups. (4) subgroup analysis indicated that age effected fixation duration for positive emotional stimuli. In addition, age and the type of negative emotional picture (sad, dysphoric, threat, anger) effected fixation duration for negative emotional stimuli.ConclusionOur research supports that patients with depression exhibit a negative attention bias toward emotional stimuli, and the fixation duration and fixation counts may be used as auxiliary objective indicators for depression screening.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1089654/fulldepressioneye trackingemotional stimulimeta-analysisattention bias
spellingShingle Genying Huang
Yafang Li
Yafang Li
Huizhong Zhu
Hong Feng
Xunbing Shen
Xunbing Shen
Zhencai Chen
Zhencai Chen
Emotional stimulation processing characteristics in depression: Meta-analysis of eye tracking findings
Frontiers in Psychology
depression
eye tracking
emotional stimuli
meta-analysis
attention bias
title Emotional stimulation processing characteristics in depression: Meta-analysis of eye tracking findings
title_full Emotional stimulation processing characteristics in depression: Meta-analysis of eye tracking findings
title_fullStr Emotional stimulation processing characteristics in depression: Meta-analysis of eye tracking findings
title_full_unstemmed Emotional stimulation processing characteristics in depression: Meta-analysis of eye tracking findings
title_short Emotional stimulation processing characteristics in depression: Meta-analysis of eye tracking findings
title_sort emotional stimulation processing characteristics in depression meta analysis of eye tracking findings
topic depression
eye tracking
emotional stimuli
meta-analysis
attention bias
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1089654/full
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