Faculty Bibliography

We examined whether lateral spread of adaptation can be observed in the electroretinogram in humans. Specifically, we tested whether the luminance level of a surrounding, nonmodulated annulus affects the multifocal electroretinogram (ERG) response of a modulated central area. Multifocal electroretinograms were recorded in response to an array of 37 unscaled hexagons subtending a retinal area of 38 deg x 35 deg. Responses were recorded in six control subjects. In the first series of experiments, only the center hexagon was modulated, while the surrounding 36 hexagons were held constant at either 0.45, 172, or 340 cd/m2. In a subsequent series of control experiments, modulation depth of the center hexagon was varied and the proximity of the surrounding hexagon systematically altered. For the center-modulated condition, response amplitude and implicit time for the first-order kernel response significantly decreased as a function of increasing surround luminance. Control experiments demonstrated that the effect of the surround illumination was not due to scattered light but was influenced by the proximity of the surrounding annulus. These results demonstrate that lateral adaptation influences can be measured using the multifocal ERG

PURPOSE: To determine the correlation between the aesthetics of lens tints preferred for cosmesis and lens tints preferred for viewing. METHODS: Thirty-five subjects (mean age: 25; 49% male, 51% female) with no significant ocular pathology participated in the study. Median visual acuity was 20/20. Color vision testing was performed on each subject using Ishihara plates, and those with abnormal scores were excluded from the study. Subjects were shown nine pre-selected tinted lenses (50% transmittance) of variable wavelengths. These lenses were mounted on two separate color backgrounds, one white and the other approximating their skin tone. Subjects were asked to choose from each background which tinted lens they would most prefer to wear and which lens they would least prefer to wear. The subjects were then shown a series of eight pictures (four nature photographs and four paintings) with different dominant wavelengths. Subjects were asked to grade the aesthetic effect of a clear lens and each of the nine tinted lenses on the appearance of the pictures. Chromaticity coordinates were calculated for each lens and picture. RESULTS: The blue lens was the most frequently chosen preferred lens to wear, followed by green, purple, and gray. The least preferred lenses were yellow, brown, and pink. For viewing the nature photographs, the clear lens was preferred over any of the tinted lenses. For viewing the paintings, the purple lens was most preferred. The yellow lens was least preferred for both photographs and paintings. CONCLUSIONS: Younger individuals with no significant ocular pathology preferred viewing both nature photographs and paintings through tinted lenses that did not, or only slightly, altered the chromaticity of the image. Whereas a clear lens was favored over the tinted lenses for viewing the photographs, some tinted lenses (purple and pink) were preferred for viewing paintings. There was no correlation between the most favored lens tint chosen based purely on cosmesis and the most favored lens tint based on viewing preference. However, the least preferred lens tint for cosmesis and viewing was yellow

PURPOSE: In the current study, we measured threshold duration required to perform the tasks of letter identification, letter detection, grating orientation discrimination, and symmetry detection of targets presented as a function of retinal eccentricity. METHODS: Targets were presented in the nasal visual field on the horizontal meridian at eccentricities ranging from 0 degree to 22 degrees. Threshold duration was calculated using a modified staircase procedure. RESULTS: We found that for the task of letter identification, the rate of duration sensitivity loss was independent of the letter size. In contrast, for the tasks of letter detection, grating discrimination, and symmetry detection, the rate of loss was greater for smaller targets than for larger targets. CONCLUSION: At equivalent target sizes, letter identification always demonstrated the steepest decline in duration sensitivity with increasing eccentricity. This might be the case if the final stages of the identification process are rate limiting. It was hoped that by quantifying duration sensitivity of the peripheral retina, more appropriate temporal stimuli could be used in rehabilitation programs that train reading using eccentric preferred retina loci in patients with advanced macular disease