A research project supported by the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Translational Research recently identified an innovative approach to help identify mental disorders – analyzing one’s brain activity while watching movies. The paper introducing this discovery was published in the October issue of the international scientific journal Neuroimage.
This study collected and analyzed the brain activity signals of hundreds of healthy and mentally disordered people when they were watching assigned movie clips. After building a “norm” based on the healthy people’s brain activities during movie watching, the researchers then compared individuals’ brain activities to the “norm” as a way to more accurately assess mental disorders.
Professor Yang Zhi, researcher at the Shanghai Mental Health Center and TCCI® for Translation Research, is the first author of this essay. Professor Li Chunbo, Associate Director of the Mental Health Center at Shanghai Mental Health Center and Academician of the TCCI® for Translational Research, also participated in this research.