Not once. Not ever.
Your eyes only see light.
The world you see is built in your brain,
Mixed from memory, emotion, and mood.
Contrary to popular belief, believing is seeing.
We've always half-known it.
Rose-tinted spectacles.
Getting up on the wrong side of the bed.
Old wives' tales, we say.
Turns out the old wives got there first.
German scientists proved this in 2010.
Depression turns contrast down.
The patients weren't just feeling grey.
They were seeing a greyer world.
The good news is it works both ways.
Better mood, more colour.
It's not just colour.
Brain scans show that people in fine fettle take in more of the world around them.
Low moods narrow it, like blinkers on a nervous horse.
Happy brains drink in the whole room.
Feelings don't colour the day.
They actually paint it.
Your mood isn't a luxury.
It's the lens you live through.
Look after it like you look after your eyesight.
Because there's a more vivid world on offer.
You don't watch the world.
You make it.
And colour it with your thoughts.
References:
Seeing grey when feeling blue: depression measured in the eye (Bubl et al, Biological Psychiatry, 2010)
The colour comes back with recovery (Bubl et al, British Journal of Psychiatry, 2012)
Good moods widen what the visual brain takes in (Schmitz et al, Journal of Neuroscience, 2009)
Positive emotions broaden attention (Fredrickson & Branigan, Cognition & Emotion, 2005)
Em on the Brain, Emily McDonald on Instagram
Your eyes only see light.
The world you see is built in your brain,
Mixed from memory, emotion, and mood.
Contrary to popular belief, believing is seeing.
We've always half-known it.
Rose-tinted spectacles.
Getting up on the wrong side of the bed.
Old wives' tales, we say.
Turns out the old wives got there first.
German scientists proved this in 2010.
Depression turns contrast down.
The patients weren't just feeling grey.
They were seeing a greyer world.
The good news is it works both ways.
Better mood, more colour.
It's not just colour.
Brain scans show that people in fine fettle take in more of the world around them.
Low moods narrow it, like blinkers on a nervous horse.
Happy brains drink in the whole room.
Feelings don't colour the day.
They actually paint it.
Your mood isn't a luxury.
It's the lens you live through.
Look after it like you look after your eyesight.
Because there's a more vivid world on offer.
You don't watch the world.
You make it.
And colour it with your thoughts.
References:
Seeing grey when feeling blue: depression measured in the eye (Bubl et al, Biological Psychiatry, 2010)
The colour comes back with recovery (Bubl et al, British Journal of Psychiatry, 2012)
Good moods widen what the visual brain takes in (Schmitz et al, Journal of Neuroscience, 2009)
Positive emotions broaden attention (Fredrickson & Branigan, Cognition & Emotion, 2005)
Em on the Brain, Emily McDonald on Instagram
