Capturing Age-Related Changes in Functional Contrast Sensitivity With Decreasing Light Levels in Monocular and Binocular Vision

Abstract

The HRindex worsens more rapidly with age at the parafovea, consistent with histologic findings of rod loss and its link to age-related degenerative disease of the retina. The HRindex and interocular differences could be used to screen for and separate the earliest stages of subclinical disease from changes caused by normal aging.

Flicker Sensitivity in Normal Aging—Monocular Tests of Retinal Function at Photopic and Mesopic Light Levels

“…One function was needed to describe flicker thresholds for participants below the fifth decade (when thresholds are largely independent of age) and the other to account for the more rapid increase observed in ages older than 40 to 50 years. more linear declines observed for the aging of red-green and yellow-blue chromatic sensitivity and contrast sensitivity from young adulthood, 1,2,50 suggesting that different retinal mechanisms mediate these attributes of vision and that each is affected differently in aging. Rod photoreceptors reduce in number with age at the parafovea, 51,52 but are not likely to contribute significantly to the detection of 15-Hz flicker.…”

“…I t is generally recognized that older people have greater difficulty performing visual tasks at low light levels. The effects of low light level and aging have been explored in spatial and color vision studies [1][2][3] ; however, less is known about the effects of aging on temporal aspects of vision at low luminances. The aim of this study is to establish normal limits for the loss of 15-Hz flicker sensitivity with increasing age, taking into account performance at decreasing light levels.…”

“…17,24,26,32,33 The loss of color, acuity, and contrast sensitivity in aging and disease has been investigated as a function of luminance in several studies and found to be more pronounced at lower light levels. [1][2][3]34,35 Similarly, it may be reasonable to expect that flicker sensitivity would be impaired in older people to a greater extent under low rather than high levels of retinal illuminance. One might therefore expect that measuring flicker sensitivity in the mesopic range may be more effective in separating changes due to healthy aging from age-related disease.…”

Quantifying Color Vision Changes Associated with Cataracts Using Cone Contrast Thresholds

“…However, 2 visual fields and acuity are the only elements routinely measured or considered in clinical trials . 3 Senescent changes, including senile miosis and increased density and opacity of optical media 2,5 4 diminish the amount of light reaching the retina where visual transduction initiates visual acuity, 5 contrast sensitivity, and color vision 6 . The most common etiology for reduced media clarity is 6 lenticular opacification.…”

Efeitos do envelhecimento no contraste visual de grades senoidais

“…Essas reduções são baseadas nas hipóteses de declínio neurobiológico e na capacidade psicofísica de detectar os estímulos, como por exemplo, a relevância dos estímulos e os paradigmas aplicados (Mateus et al, 2013). Além disso, as alterações na curva de SC encontradas em idosos podem ser causadas por perdas ópticas (Bissig, Roberts, & Berkowitz, 2011;Park et al, 2004;Roorda, 2011) e neurais (Elliott & Werner, 2010;Lesmes, Wallis, Lu, Jackson, & Bex, 2012;Rosen et al, 2015) típicas do envelhecimento normal (Gillespie-Gallery, Konstantakopoulou, Harlow, & Barbur, 2013;Owsley, 2011).…”