Towards a latent space cartography of subjective experience in mental health.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

The way that individuals subjectively experience the world greatly influences their own mental well-being. However, it remains a considerable challenge to precisely characterize the breadth and depth of such experiences. One persistent problem is the lack of objective tools for directly quantifying and comparing narrative reports of subjective experiences. Here, we develop a new approach to map and compare reports of experience using the latent space of artificial neural networks.

Methods

Using a series of 31 prompts, including 30 images and one open-ended question, we quantified how the verbal reports provided by participants (n = 210, 50% female) deviate from one another and how these variations are linked to subjective experience and mental health.

Results

We

SUBMITTER: Manuel S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12047060 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature