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The world seems gray when you’re feeling blue. In fact， being down might even influence how you perceive the color blue. A recent study about color was published in the journal Psychological Science. It shows a direct connection between a person’s ability to perceive color and their emotions.
Psychologists have long known that emotions can influence the way people perceive things. That’s in part because chemicals from your brain might influence how you perceive what you see. “Color is such an important part of our experience，” says lead author Christopher Thorstenson， a psychologist at the University of Rochester， in New York. There’s a reason， he says， that sad people commonly describe the world as “colorless”， and “gray”， and happy people use words like “bright” and “colorful”.
An interesting experiment
In the experiment， the researchers divided people into two groups. People in the “sadness” group watched a sad picture from the Lion King. Those in the “happiness” group watched a comedy skit. Another part of the study had people watch a desktop screensaver.
Everyone was then asked to look at red， yellow， green， and blue patches that had been turned to a grayish color. “Some of the patches are very difficult to figure out，” Thorstenson admits. He says it takes some time to figure out their shade. People were scored on how accurate their color perception was. Then they completed an emotional evaluation.
Reading the results
The result？ Sad people had a hard time seeing the difference between shades along the blue-yellow color axis. But people who were sad did not have problems seeing colors in the red-green. Thorstenson says this could be the result of a need to see red as an anger response.
Thorstenson says these results emphasize the possible importance of dopamine in sight. Dopamine is a chemical that sends signals to the brain. Researchers are hoping to center more on dopamine in the future. “There might be something going on with how dopamine influences how we see colors， too，” Thorstenson says. “How we feel can really influence how we see the world around us，” he says.
Vocabulary
perceive v. 理解，感觉
comedy skit n. 喜剧小品
patch n. 片，块
shade n. 色度
axis n. 轴，轴线
dopamine n. 多巴胺（一种化学物质）
（Do you have such a feeling that the world seems gray when you are sad？）
Psychologists have long known that emotions can influence the way people perceive things. That’s in part because chemicals from your brain might influence how you perceive what you see. “Color is such an important part of our experience，” says lead author Christopher Thorstenson， a psychologist at the University of Rochester， in New York. There’s a reason， he says， that sad people commonly describe the world as “colorless”， and “gray”， and happy people use words like “bright” and “colorful”.
An interesting experiment
In the experiment， the researchers divided people into two groups. People in the “sadness” group watched a sad picture from the Lion King. Those in the “happiness” group watched a comedy skit. Another part of the study had people watch a desktop screensaver.
Everyone was then asked to look at red， yellow， green， and blue patches that had been turned to a grayish color. “Some of the patches are very difficult to figure out，” Thorstenson admits. He says it takes some time to figure out their shade. People were scored on how accurate their color perception was. Then they completed an emotional evaluation.
Reading the results
The result？ Sad people had a hard time seeing the difference between shades along the blue-yellow color axis. But people who were sad did not have problems seeing colors in the red-green. Thorstenson says this could be the result of a need to see red as an anger response.
Thorstenson says these results emphasize the possible importance of dopamine in sight. Dopamine is a chemical that sends signals to the brain. Researchers are hoping to center more on dopamine in the future. “There might be something going on with how dopamine influences how we see colors， too，” Thorstenson says. “How we feel can really influence how we see the world around us，” he says.
Vocabulary
perceive v. 理解，感觉
comedy skit n. 喜剧小品
patch n. 片，块
shade n. 色度
axis n. 轴，轴线
dopamine n. 多巴胺（一种化学物质）
（Do you have such a feeling that the world seems gray when you are sad？）