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Six distinct types of depression identified in Stanford Medicine-led study (med.stanford.edu)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

researchers scanned a dead fish while it was “shown a series of photographs depicting human individuals in social situations. The salmon was asked to determine what emotion the individual in the photo must have been experiencing.”

The work is, however, a compelling and humorous demonstration of the problem of multiple comparisons. This is a principle in statistics that basically says when you’re looking at enough bits of information (i.e. doing lots of statistical tests), some will seem to be what you’re looking for – purely by chance. In fMRI experiments, there are a LOT of pieces of data to compare, and without statistical correction for this phenomenon (which is not always done), some will indeed be significant, just by chance.