Chromatic and luminance losses with multiple sclerosis and optic neuritis measured using dynamic random luminance contrast noise

Abstract

We measured thresholds for detecting changes in colour and in luminance contrast in observers with multiple sclerosis (MS) and/or optic neuritis (ON) to determine whether reduced sensitivity occurs principally in red-green or blue-yellow second-stage chromatic channels or in an achromatic channel. Colour thresholds for the observers with MS/ON were higher in the red-green direction than in the blue-yellow direction, indicating greater levels of red-green loss than blue-yellow loss. Achromatic thresholds were raised less than either red-green or blue-yellow thresholds, showing less luminance-contrast loss than chromatic loss. With the MS/ON observers, blue-yellow and red-green thresholds were positively correlated but increasing impairment was associated with more rapid changes in red-green thresholds than blue-yellow thresholds. These findings indicate that demyelinating disease selectively reduces sensitivity to colour vision over luminance vision and red-green colours over blue-yellow colours.

The Visual (dis)Function in Neurological Diseases

“…The impairment is present in MS even with no history of optic neuritis [131], although the ON group had more impairment. Both patient groups manifested significant losses along the protan and tritan axes, and the ON group had losses along the deutan axis as well.…”

“…Color vision impairment has been observed in subjects with no history of optic neuritis and tends to be more impaired than luminance sensitivity [129][130][131][132]. A number of investigators have attempted to determine if there is a selective effect on red-green or blue-yellow mechanisms in optic neuritis.…”

Prospective Study on Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer Thickness Changes in Isolated Unilateral Retrobulbar Optic Neuritis

“…Optic neuritis is a demyelinating inflammation of the optic nerve characterised by a sudden onset of vision loss and dyschromatopsia associated with ocular pain [1]. Postinflammatory changes include axonal loss and optic nerve atrophy [2].…”

Spectral filters can improve reading and visual search in patients with multiple sclerosis

“…Following optic neuritis, colours may appear darker or washed out [11], colour matching is often anomalous [16], patients may reveal deficits when tested using random luminance-contrast masking [4,5] and temporal discrimination of visual stimuli may be impaired [6]. Patients with multiple sclerosis also experience symptoms of visual discomfort and perceptual distortion, but, to our knowledge, there are no published studies that have investigated visual stress in these patients.…”