Pro-psychotic change of binocular depth inversion by sleep deprivation

Abstract

Binocular depth inversion represents an illusion of visual perception. Such inversion does not occur in all cases, especially when objects with a higher degree of familiarity (e.g. photographs of faces) are displayed. Cognitive factors are assumed to override the binocular disparity cues of stereopsis. We tested the hypothesis that during sleep deprivation the human CNS is unable to correct the implausible perceptual information. Measurements of binocular depth inversion in perception of 3D objects were taken in sleep-deprived medical staff and healthy volunteers. The binocular depth inversion scores were highly elevated in the sleep-deprived group in comparison to the healthy volunteers. The data demonstrate a strong impairment of binocular depth inversion after sleep deprivation and support the view that sleep deprivation may be accompanied by a disorganisation of the interaction between sensory input and generation of perceptual hypotheses.