Impaired perceptual processing and conceptual cognition in patients with anxiety disorders: A pilot study with the binocular depth inversion paradigm
Torsten Passie, Udo Schneider, Mathias Borsutzky, Roger Breyer, Hinderk M. Emrich, Borwin Bandelow, Gerhard Schmid‐Ott
Psychology, Health & Medicine November 27, 2012 DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2012.722649 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with anxiety disorders (ICD-10 F40 and F41) and matched controls |
| Topics | Anxiety |
| Keywords | Cognition Binocular rivalry Cognitive psychology Illusion Salience neuroscience Visual perception Visual processing Developmental psychology |
| Citations | 7 |
| Key points | Anxiety patients scored significantly higher on the BDIT than controls, in a range comparable to pro-psychotic conditions. |
Abstract
The binocular depth inversion test (BDIT) measures a common illusion of visual perception whereby implausible objects are seen as normal, e.g., a hollow face is perceived as a normal, convex face. Such inversion is frequent, especially for objects with a high degree of familiarity. Under normal conditions, cognitive factors apparently override the binocular disparity cues of stereopsis. This internal mechanism of "censorship" of perception, which balances "top-down" and "bottom-up" processes of perception to come to a cognitive coherence, which is congruent to previous experience and concepts, appears to be disturbed in (pro-)psychotic states. The BDIT has been shown to be a sensitive measure of impaired higher visual processing and conceptual cognition common to conditions including schizophrenia, cannabinoid-intoxication, and sleep deprivation but not depression. In this pilot study, we tested the performance of patients with anxiety disorders (ICD-10 F40 and F41) compared to matched controls using the BDIT paradigm. Anxiety patients scored significantly higher on the BDIT than controls, in a range comparable to propsychotic conditions. The findings suggest that anxiety patients could have abnormalities in central perceptual processing, top-down processing (conceptual cognition), and reality testing similar to (pro-)psychotic conditions. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to therapeutic interventions with anxiety disorders.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on anxiety, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
- Resistance to depth inversion illusions: A biosignature of psychosis with potential utility for monitoring positive symptom emergence and remission in schizophrenia Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry March 26, 2022
- A Review of Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) and an Exploratory Study of Subjects Claiming Symptoms of HPPD. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2018
Cites 3
- Effects of different subanaesthetic doses of (S)-ketamine on psychopathology and binocular depth inversion in man Journal of Psychopharmacology 2003
- Different effects of nabilone and cannabidiol on binocular depth inversion in Man. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior May 2000
- Effects of synthetic delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol on binocular depth inversion of natural and artificial objects in man. Psychopharmacology March 1999