A new Yale study suggests a link between visual perception and paranoid thinking. Individuals with a tendency towards paranoia performed worse on a visual task, indicating a possible connection between basic vision and complex beliefs.
When completing a visual perception task, in which participants had to identify whether one moving dot was chasing another moving dot, those with greater tendencies toward paranoid thinking (believing others intend them harm) and teleological thinking (ascribing excessive meaning and purpose to events) performed worse than their counterparts. Those individuals more often -- and confidently -- claimed one dot was chasing the other when it wasn't.
The findings suggest that, in the future, testing for illnesses like schizophrenia could be done with a simple eye test. 'We're really interested in how the mind is organized,' said senior author Philip Corlett, an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and member of the Wu Tsai Institute.'Chasing or other intentional behaviors are what you might think of as experiences perceived at a very high-level in the brain, that someone might have to reason through and deliberate. In this study, we can see them low down in the brain, in vision, which we think is exciting and interesting -- and has implications for how those mechanisms might be relevant for schizophreni
Paranoia Vision Schizophrenia Teleological Thinking Brain Perception
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
47-year-old billionaire: ‘My superpowers' are paranoia, workaholism and micromanaging—'that's worked for me'Peter Beck’s concern around failure often keeps him up at night, but the billionaire says it also helped him build Rocket Lab into a $11 billion company.
Read more »
Iranian thriller The Seed Of The Sacred Fig sprouts paranoia and isolation at homeThe personal is political in director Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, which brings authoritarianism home.
Read more »
75 U.S. Place Names With Native American RootsDan Aulbach is an editorial intern for TODAY.com based in New York City. He specializes in sports journalism.
Read more »
How fungi colonize plant roots | ScienceDailyResearchers have identified two fungal enzymes that hijack the immune system of plants, playing a critical role in the colonization of plant roots. These findings open new avenues for interventions in both medicine and agriculture.
Read more »
Understanding body shame’s roots in cultural values and racism.The racial and religious roots of fatphobia mean that today, ethnic minorities in Western societies increasingly struggle with body shame. Here's what therapists can do to help.
Read more »
Church’s, the San Antonio-born chain of fast fried chicken, returns to its rootsThe San Antonio-born fast food eatery known for crunchy fried chicken made 'the Texas way' has something familiar back on the menu.
Read more »