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Research Article
Visual Perception during Mirror-Gazing at Ones Own Face in
Patients with Depression
Giovanni B. Caputo,1 Marco Bortolomasi,2 Roberta Ferrucci,3 Mario Giacopuzzi,2
Alberto Priori,3 and Stefano Zago3
1
1. Introduction
Strange-face in the mirror illusions [14] are apparitional
experiences that are produced by gazing at ones own face
reflected in a mirror, under low illumination. In a study
set-up, under controlled laboratory conditions, 50 healthy
young adults, after about one minute of mirror-gazing,
began to perceive strange-face apparitions [1]. These included
huge deformations of ones own face (reported by 66% of
individuals), a monstrous face (48%), an unknown person
(28%), an archetypal face (28%), a face of a parent or relative
(18%), and an animal face (18%).
Recently, Caputo et al. [5] showed that some schizophrenic patients perceived much more intense strange-face
apparitions than healthy individuals. In this paper, the scope
of the study was to investigate strange-face illusions in
2
and the other, facial expressions by the other and facial
recognition of the others expressions by the subject are
reciprocally intertwined through mimicry and subject-other
synchronization [10].
Mirror-gazing at ones own face is similar to an interpersonal encounter by the subject (or the subjects ego) with
itself (which is the subjects bodily face that is reflected in
the mirror), as if the subject were an other [11, 12]. In the
case of mirror-gazing, the subjects facial expressions are
reflected in the mirror and then perceived and recognized by
the subject itself. This dynamic self-reflection can produce,
within the subject, recognition-expression or perceptionaction loops. Hence, mirror-gazing can involve, within the
subject, processes of mimicry, synchronization, emotional
connectedness, and so forth, that are all implicated during
face-to-face interactions.
In relationship to faces, patients with depression show
deficits both in facial recognition of emotions and in facial
expression of emotions [1315]. Emotional-processing biases
occur to sad faces presented below the level of conscious
awareness in depression [16, 17]. Depression patients show
deficits in both voluntary and involuntary facial expression
of emotions [13]. By influencing the salience of social stimuli,
mood-congruent processing biases may contribute to dysfunction in conscious recognitions, expressions, and social
interactions in depression [18].
Therefore, a specific hypothesis, which is based on deficits
of facial recognition and facial expression of emotions in
depression, is that strange-face apparitions should be strongly
reduced in patients with depression compared to healthy
controls.
From the clinical viewpoint, it may be noted that no
study has previously investigated mirror-gazing in depressed
patients. Therefore, a simple, standardized test to trigger a
reproducible pattern of strange-face apparitions could help
in completing the standard psychopathological assessment of
patients with depression.
3
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Healthy
controls
Depression
patients
Schizophrenic
patients
(Caputo et al., 2012)
4. Conclusions
Our study provides first evidence showing that mirrorgazing, at a low illumination level, produces less frequent
strange-face apparitions in depressed patients than in healthy
individuals. Moreover, apparitions were usually of lower
intensity and shorter duration in depressed patients than in
healthy controls. The hypothesis of the present study is therefore supported by the decreased frequency and duration of
event-related responses, decreased number of strange faces,
and lower self-evaluation ratings of apparition strength and
emotions among the patients. Instead, the age of participants
did not influence strange-face apparitions.
4
The experimental finding that depression patients
reported lower ratings of the emotional content of strangeface apparitions than healthy controls can be explained by
the general dampening of emotions in depression [7, 8, 19].
The experimental finding that patients reported fewer
and less frequent strange-face apparitions than controls can
be explained by deficits in emotional facial recognition and
emotional facial expression and by deficit in interpersonal
interactions of patients with depression [1315, 18].
Our phenomenological observation of typical depressed
patients behaviour in front of the mirror gives the compelling
impression that patients saw their own reflected faces similar
to inanimate materials. This behaviour in depression is
opposite to intense strange-face hallucinations that can be
observed in schizophrenia [5]. In fact, depression patients
during mirror-gazing can be described as completely immobile similar to statues of death [20].
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests
regarding the publication of this paper.
References
[1] G. B. Caputo, Strange-face-in-the-mirror illusion, Perception,
vol. 39, no. 7, pp. 10071008, 2010.
[2] G. B. Caputo, Apparitional experiences of new faces and
dissociation of self-identity during mirror-gazing, Perceptual
and Motor Skills, vol. 110, pp. 11251138, 2010.
[3] C. R. Brewin, B. Y. T. Ma, and J. Colson, Effects of experimentally induced dissociation on attention and memory, Consciousness and Cognition, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 315323, 2013.
[4] C. R. Brewin and N. Mersaditabari, Experimentally-induced
dissociation impairs visual memory, Consciousness and Cognition, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 11891194, 2013.
[5] G. B. Caputo, R. Ferrucci, M. Bortolomasi, M. Giacopuzzi, A.
Priori, and S. Zago, Visual perception during mirror gazing at
ones own face in schizophrenia, Schizophrenia Research, vol.
140, no. 13, pp. 4650, 2012.
[6] G. S. Malhi, G. B. Parker, and J. Greenwood, Structural and
functional models of depression: from sub-types to substrates,
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, vol. 111, no. 2, pp. 94105, 2005.
[7] L. Clark, S. R. Chamberlain, and B. J. Sahakian, Neurocognitive
mechanisms in depression: implications for treatment, Annual
Review of Neuroscience, vol. 32, pp. 5774, 2009.
[8] M. L. Phillips, W. C. Drevets, S. L. Rauch, and R. Lane, Neurobiology of emotion perception II: implications for major psychiatric disorders, Biological Psychiatry, vol. 54, no. 5, pp. 515528,
2003.
[9] S. G. Disner, C. G. Beevers, E. A. P. Haigh, and A. T. Beck, Neural mechanisms of the cognitive model of depression, Nature
Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 12, no. 8, pp. 467477, 2011.
[10] T. L. Chartrand and J. L. Lakin, The antecedents and consequences of human behavioral mimicry, Annual Review of
Psychology, vol. 64, pp. 285308, 2013.
[11] M. Merleau-Ponty, The childs relations with others, in The
Primacy of Perception, M. Merleau-Ponty, Ed., pp. 96155,
Northwestern University Press, Evanston, Ill, USA, 1964.
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doi:10.1068/p6466
Strange-face-in-the-mirror illusion
Giovanni B Caputo
Department of Psychology, University of Urbino, via Saffi 15, 61029 Urbino, Italy;
e-mail: giovanni.caputo@uniurb.it
Received 15 May 2009, in revised form 11 May 2010
I describe a visual illusion which occurs when an observer sees his/her image reflected
in a mirror in a dimly lit room. This illusion can be easily experienced and replicated as
the details of the setting (in particular the room illumination) are not critical. These
observations were made in a quiet room dimly lit by a 25 W incandescent light. The
lamp was placed on the floor behind the observer so that it was not visible either
directly or in the mirror. A relatively large mirror (0.5 m60.5 m) was placed about
0.4 m in front of the observer. Luminance of the reflected face image within the
mirror was about 0.2 cd m2 and this level allowed detailed perception of fine face
traits but attenuated colour perception. The illusion occurred even at higher levels of
illumination of observer's face (from 0.2 to 1.6 cd m2 ). The task of the observer was
to gaze at his/her reflected face within the mirror. Usually, after less than a minute,
the observer began to perceive the strange-face illusion.
Phenomenological descriptions were made by fifty naive individuals (age range
21 ^ 29 years; mean 23 years; SD 2.1 years). At the end of a 10 min session of mirror
gazing, the participant was asked to write what he or she saw in the mirror. The
descriptions differed greatly across individuals and included: (a) huge deformations of
one's own face (reported by 66% of the fifty participants); (b) a parent's face with traits
changed (18%), of whom 8% were still alive and 10% were deceased; (c) an unknown
person (28%); (d) an archetypal face, such as that of an old woman, a child, or a portrait
of an ancestor (28%); (e) an animal face such as that of a cat, pig, or lion (18%);
(f ) fantastical and monstrous beings (48%).
The disappearance or attenuation of face traits could be linked to the Troxler
fading that occurs in the periphery while staring at a central fixation. However, this
explanation would predict that face traits should fade away and eventually disappear
(Wade 2000), whereas the apparitions in the mirror consist of new faces having new
traits. A possibly related `multiple-faces' phenomenon (Simas 2000) has been reported
for photos of faces placed in peripheral vision. In this case, the reported deformations of features include variations of the facial traits and expressions or appearance
of new ones like teeth, or a beard, as well as completely new faces, 3-D distortions,
rotations, upside-down faces, the subject's own face, sometimes younger or older.
Clearly, there are similarities in effects for peripherally viewed photos and centrally
viewed self-reflections in dim light. However, in central viewing, the perception of the
face is more accurate, making the distortion more salient, and, because the distortions
are of one's own face, the effects are amplified from merely intriguing to often unsettling.
The two types of distortion (peripheral versus low-illumination central viewing) can be
compared by viewing one's own face in profile in a mirror in peripheral vision.
From a perceptual viewpoint, the strange-face illusion may be explained by disruption
of the process of binding of traits (eyes, nose, mouth, etc) into the global Gestalt of face
(Thompson 1980). This long-term viewing of face stimuli of marginal strength may
generate a haphazard assembly of face traits that generate deformed faces or scrambled
1008
faces. Frequent apparitions of strange faces of known or unknown people support the
idea that the illusion involves a high-level mechanism that is specific to global face
processing. On the other hand, the frequent apparition of fantastical and monstrous
beings, and of animal faces cannot, in our opinion, be explained by any actual theory
of face processing. Neither constructive approaches nor top ^ down accounts seem to
provide adequate explanations.
The participants reported that apparition of new faces in the mirror caused sensations of otherness when the new face appeared to be that of another, unknown person
or strange `other' looking at him/her from within or beyond the mirror. All fifty participants experienced some form of this dissociative identity effect, at least for some
apparition of strange faces and often reported strong emotional responses in these
instances. For example, some observers felt that the `other' watched them with an
enigmatic expression a situation that they found astonishing. Some participants saw
a malign expression on the `other' face and became anxious. Other participants felt
that the `other' was smiling or cheerful, and experienced positive emotions in response.
The apparition of deceased parents or of archetypal portraits produced feelings of silent
query. Apparition of monstrous beings produced fear or disturbance. Dynamic deformations of new faces (like pulsations or shrinking, smiling or grinding) produced an overall
sense of inquietude for things out of control.
Static face pictures and the distortions seen when they are peripherally viewed (Simas
2000) involve the binding of face traits. In contrast, self-perception in a mirror engages
a far broader set of processes as the image duplicates one's own face perfectly in space
and time, triggering an integration of perceptual, motor, and proprioceptive processes.
It is a dynamic process involving self-motion and autonomous self-exploratory control
of facial pose and expression (Rochat 2002). The construction of our self-identity
includes, among other processes, the capacity to recognise oneself in the mirror, a
competence acquired in childhood between 2 ^ 3 years of age (Zazzo 1981). Another
aspect of the strange-face illusion is the potential breakdown of self-identity that may
take place when gazing at a strange new face that has replaced one's own in the mirror
for a relatively long time.
Acknowledgment. I would like to greatly thank Patrick Cavanagh for his help in revision, advice,
and enthusiastic support.
References
Rochat P, 2002 ``Ego function of early imitation'', in The Imitative Mind Eds A N Meltzoff, W Prinz
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) pp 85 ^ 97
Simas M L, 2000 ``The multiple-faces phenomenon: some investigative studies'' Perception 29
1393 ^ 1395
Thompson P, 1980 ``Margaret Thatcher: a new illusion'' Perception 9 483 ^ 484
Wade N J, 2000 A Natural History of Vision (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press)
Zazzo R, 1981 ``Miroir, images, espaces'', in La Reconnaissance de son Image chez l'Enfant et l'Animal
Eds P Mounoud, A Vinter (Paris: Delachaux et Niestle) pp 77 ^ 110