Steiner J E, Lidar-Lifschitz D, Perl E
Department of Oral Biology, Hebrew University, Hadassah Faculty of Dental Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel.
Percept Mot Skills. 1993 Dec;77(3 Pt 2):1331-46. doi: 10.2466/pms.1993.77.3f.1331.
Depressive patients often complain about dullness of taste of previously liked food items as well as of persistent bad taste. Taste and smell experience can be reflected by cognitive (psychophysical) indicators and also by reflectory (facial expressive) responses. In the present study 21 depressed, hospitalized patients and 16 control subjects were exposed to food-related gustatory and olfactory stimuli. Psychophysical and videotaped facial reactions were recorded from both groups. Analysis indicated that cognitive estimates of taste hedonics were similar for depressed and control groups; the former responded to sweet taste with a shorter-lasting facial reaction, involving markedly fewer facial features expressing enjoyment, than did controls. Aversive tastes, in contrast, triggered comparable facial expressive features of disgust in both groups. Facial reactions of depressed patients to acceptable and aversive olfactory stimuli were all significantly shorter and more muted than those of controls. Facial reflexes triggered by chemical cues are known to be controlled primarily by brainstem structures. Present findings suggest a possible influence of the profound anhedonia of severe depression on subcortical processes.
抑郁症患者常常抱怨，以前喜欢的食物尝起来变得乏味，而且持续有异味。味觉和嗅觉体验既可以通过认知（心理物理学）指标来反映，也可以通过反射性（面部表情）反应来体现。在本研究中，21名住院的抑郁症患者和16名对照受试者接触了与食物相关的味觉和嗅觉刺激。记录了两组受试者的心理物理学反应和面部视频反应。分析表明，抑郁组和对照组对味觉享乐主义的认知评估相似；与对照组相比，前者对甜味的面部反应持续时间较短，涉及表达愉悦的面部特征明显较少。相比之下，厌恶的味道在两组中引发了类似的厌恶面部表情特征。抑郁症患者对可接受和厌恶的嗅觉刺激的面部反应都明显比对照组更短且更不明显。已知由化学信号触发的面部反射主要受脑干结构控制。目前的研究结果表明，重度抑郁症严重的快感缺乏可能对皮层下过程产生影响。
