Key result
Pupil dilation in response to the emotional sound of 'glasses broken on the floor' was significantly and positively correlated with depressive scores (r = 0.314, p = 0.0422) in elderly subjects.
Why the study?
Does pupillary response to auditory stimuli correlate with depressive scores in healthy elderly subjects?
Cross-Sectional (n=41)
No
Does pupillary response to auditory stimuli correlate with depressive scores in healthy elderly subjects?
Effect estimate: r = 0.314
p-value: p=0.0422
Pupil dilation in response to specific negative emotional sounds correlates with depressive scores, suggesting potential as a biological marker for depression.
May link pupil responses to depressive traits in elderly; leaves open utility as screening biomarker.
Background: Previous reports indicate that depressed individuals have worse memory for negative information than other types of information. They tend to ruminate upon negative information with high sensitivity. Depressive subjects also tend to display greater sustained pupil dilation in response to negative information. Methods: We evaluated pupil diameter with charge coupled device (CCD) infrared camera while scoring depressive scale in 41 healthy elderly subjects. Six kinds of sounds were used as auditory stimuli with characters of startle-eliciting. The measurements of pupil were made in a rested state and done twice with pre- and post-auditory and light stimulations. The indexes of pupil responses were dilations for auditory stimulations and contractions for light stimulations. Results: The pupil diameter stimulated by emotional sound “glasses broken on the floor” was solely positive correlated with depressive score. The pupil contractions for light stimuli were weakly negative correlated with depressive score. Conclusion: Some emotional sounds with negative information could cause pupil dilation in depressive participants. This sound “glasses broken on the floor” would be a biological marker assistant to depressive diagnosis. J Neurol Res. 2016;6(1):8-11 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jnr364w
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Oguro et al. (2016) conducted a cross-sectional in Depressive state (n=41). Auditory stimuli (emotional sounds) vs. Resting state / other sounds was evaluated on Correlation between pupil dilated ratio (DR) in response to 'glasses broken on the floor' sound and Zung's self-depression scale (SDS) (r = 0.314, p=0.0422). Pupil dilation in response to the emotional sound of 'glasses broken on the floor' was significantly and positively correlated with depressive scores (r = 0.314, p = 0.0422) in elderly subjects.
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