J. D. Moreland

Colour Vision Deficiencies X

1. Change in color vision for prototype anomaloscope with a visual field of 2° to 20° YASUO OHTA (Tokyo, Japan) In order to investigate change in color vision of congenital color defects in accordance with the increase in the visual angle of the stimulus, we made an anomaloscope in which visual angle could be changed to 2°, 6°, 10°, 15° and 20° by using LEDs, and conducted tests on 28 congenital color defects. One group of subjects showed no change in the matching range and a second group of subjects showed shrinking of the matching range. Shrinking of the matching range was prominent when the visual angle was larger than 10°.

Macular pigment density and distribution: Comparison of fundus autofluorescence with minimum motion photometry

Macular pigment (MP) distribution profiles were measured for 18 subjects using a Moreland anomaloscope modified for motion photometry. The total amount of MP within the central 7 degrees was estimated from the distribution profile by numerical integration. Fundus autofluorescence images were obtained for eight of these subjects using a scanning laser ophthalmoscope. Peak optical density of MP increased with the total amount present, but the correlation was weakened by inter-subject differences in MP distribution. The mean MP distribution derived from mean grey-scale profiles of fundus autofluorescence images correlated closely with that obtained psychophysically (r=0.96). Autofluorescence imaging provides a fast non-invasive method for assessing MP in vivo.

Comparison of Fundus Autofluorescence and Minimum-Motion Measurements of Macular Pigment Distribution Profiles Derived from Identical Retinal Areas

The optical density of macular pigment was measured at twelve retinal locations in ten subjects by minimum motion photometry, comparing 460 nm with 580 nm or 550 nm. Fundus autofluorescence images were obtained for the same subjects with a scanning laser ophthalmoscope. Optical density was computed from mean calibrated grey-scale values for a central circular field and for annular segments, identical to areas tested psychophysically, and for complete annuli. Psychophysical assessments of optical density were similar irrespective of whether 550 nm or 580 nm was used. Optical density values derived psychophysically showed a linear correlation with assessments based on identical sampled areas of annular segments (slope = 0.98, r2 = 0.97) or complete annuli (slope = 0.89, r2 = 0.96) in autofluorescence images.

Macular pigment and the colour-specificity of visual evoked potentials

A modified Moreland anomaloscope was used to examine two subjects, one with dense macular pigment, the other with relatively light pigmentation. Chromatic visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were elicited from these two subjects using coarse, isoluminant gratings of different sizes. Colour-specificity was verified by comparing chromatic onset VEPs (reflecting sustained activity) with chromatic reversal VEPs (reflecting mainly transient activity) and also by Fourier analysis (colour-specific responses are dominated by the fundamental, transient activity by the second harmonic). Achromatic (transient-type) intrusions, produced by large blue-green gratings could be related to the extent of subject-specific macular pigmentation.

The Macular Assessment Profile test – a new VDU-based technique for measuring the spatial distribution of the macular pigment, lens density and rapid flicker sensitivity

The measurement of macular pigment optical density (MPOD) in the eye is often carried out using optical techniques based on heterochromatic flicker photometry (HFP). These require the use of two spectrally‐narrow beams, one at the wavelength of maximum absorption of the macular pigment (MP) and the other in the long wavelength region of the visible spectrum where MP absorption is negligible. A new technique for the measurement of MPOD spatial profiles has been developed by overcoming the current shortcomings associated with the use of visual displays. The new Macular Assessment Profile (MAP) test makes use of a ‘notch’ filter and a photometric model to measure and compute the peak MPOD value. Two other useful parameters are also computed from the same measurements. These describe the subject’s sensitivity to rapid flicker and the absorption of blue light by the lens. MPOD profiles, lens density, rapid flicker sensitivity, and red/green (RG) and yellow/blue (YB) colour thresholds were measured in 54 normal subjects aged 18–61 years. The results confirm previous findings on ageing effects and demonstrate the complete absence of correlation between MPOD and the subject’s YB chromatic thresholds. In contrast, RG chromatic sensitivity improves with higher levels of MPOD.

Chromatic VEP assessment of human macular pigment: Comparison with minimum motion and minimum flicker profiles

To assess the effects of macular pigment optical density (MPOD) on isoluminant stimuli and to quantify MPOD electrophysiologically, MPOD distribution profiles were obtained in normal subjects using minimum motion and minimum flicker photometry. Isoluminance of VEP stimuli was determined using minimum flicker and tritan confusion lines were determined using a minimum distinct border criterion. Onset-offset and reversal VEPs to isoluminant red/green, blue/green, and subject-specific tritan gratings of different diameters were recorded from the same 14 subjects tested psychophysically. VEPs were additionally recorded to annular gratings. Chromatic VEP selectivity was assessed by Fourier analysis and as an index; onset negativity/(onset negativity + onset positivity). Peak MPOD varied between 0.2-0.8. Chromatic onset VEPs to all isoluminant 3-deg fields were predominantly negative. Larger blue/green and tritan stimuli elicited VEPs with additional positive, achromatic components; for 9-deg gratings, peak MPOD showed negative correlation with the power of the VEP fundamental (r = -0.70) and with the selectivity index (r = -0.83). Annular gratings elicited chromatic-specific B/G VEPs but only when isoluminance was determined for the annulus. Chromatic selectivity loss in VEPs to large B/G or Tritan gratings can be used to estimate subject-specific MPOD. An important implication is that isoluminant Tritan stimuli with short-wavelength components must be restricted in size in order to optimize koniocellular selectivity.

Macular pigment and color discrimination

An earlier modeling study of the effect of changes in macular pigment optical density (MPOD) on a wide range of surface colors is re-examined. That study reported changes in local chromaticity variance and in color spacing, some of which were incompatible with tritan-like confusions in normals associated with high-simulated MPOD. This disagreement might have arisen through the use of the von Kries correction for adaptation. The analysis is repeated, using 1782 reflectance spectra of natural and man-made colors. These colors are segregated into an array of 25 equally populated cells in an analogue of the MacLeod-Boynton cone excitation diagram. Removing the von Kries correction restores compatibility with other experimental data. Differences between the results for normal and anomalous trichromats, noted in the earlier study, are confirmed. An analysis of local chromaticity variance across color space indicates the presence of systematic patterns. The earlier study also reported differences in results across observer types (for example, between normals and protanomals) and this is addressed here by utilizing fundamentals defined by a variable photopigment template. Chromaticities are computed for the same 1782 reflectance spectra for normals and for a set of protanomals (for whom the anomalous L pigment is shifted between the normal L and M spectral locations). Colors are segregated into an array of 100 cells in an analogue of the MacLeod-Boynton cone excitation diagram. Changes in chromaticity variance with MPOD for these cells are mapped for normals and protanomals. Variance along the L/(L + M) axis is sensitive to the number of cells used for segmentation. It also increases with MPOD for normal observers but this trend reverses as the wavelength of maximum sensitivity of the L cone shifts towards shorter wavelengths (protanomalous locations).

Moreland match revisited

An earlier analysis, which yielded an optimal pair of blue and green primaries (436 & 490 nm) for tritanomaloscopy, is reevaluated. That analysis minimized population variance in the mid-match points of color normals by taking into account, for a set of blue and green tritanopic metamers, the contributions of the lens and macular pigment variances and of matching range. The revision to the matching-range contribution takes into account the effect, neglected in the original analysis, of the varying angle between the blue-green primary mixture lines and the corresponding cyan test and yellow desaturant mixture lines. Use is made of new measurements of the macular pigment absorbance spectrum, a new estimate of the lens absorbance spectrum, the population variances of the lens and macular pigment, and of matching-range data for a current Moreland equation. Tritanopic metamers are derived from a revised set of cone fundamentals. The net effect of all of these revisions on the specification of optimal primaries is small (440 and 488 nm). However, larger changes are involved in the choice of test and desaturant wavelengths.

Quantitative assessment of commercial filter 'aids' for red-green colour defectives

The claims made for 43 commercial filter ‘aids’, that they improve the colour discrimination of red‐green colour defectives, are assessed for protanomaly and deuteranomaly by changes in the colour spacing of traffic signals (European Standard EN 1836:2005) and of the Farnsworth D15 test. Spectral transmittances of the ‘aids’ are measured and tristimulus values with and without ‘aids’ are computed using cone fundamentals and the spectral power distributions of either the D15 chips illuminated by CIE Illuminant C or of traffic signals. Chromaticities (l,s) are presented in cone excitation diagrams for protanomaly and deuteranomaly in terms of the relative excitation of their long (L), medium (M) and short (S) wavelength‐sensitive cones. After correcting for non‐uniform colour spacing in these diagrams, standard deviations parallel to the l and s axes are computed and enhancement factors El and Es are derived as the ratio of ‘aided’ to ‘unaided’ standard deviations. Values of El for traffic signals with most ‘aids’ are <1 and many do not meet the European signal detection standard. A few ‘aids’ have expansive El factors but with inadequate utility: the largest being 1.2 for traffic signals and 1.3 for the D15 colours. Analyses, replicated for 19 ‘aids’ from one manufacturer using 658 Munsell colours inside the D15 locus, yield El factors within 1% of those found for the 16 D15 colours.

Aberrant flicker sensitivity revealed by heterochromatic modulation photometry

Heterochromatic modulation photometry is a method in which a series of fixed standard luminance/test luminance ratios are presented, and at each ratio the modulation depth of the pair is reduced in tandem until the observer reports that flicker disappears. The expectation is a distinct minimum modulation sensitivity at the standard/test ratio representing the luminance match. At other luminance ratios, flicker sensitivity should vary with the luminance difference between standard and test. We have devised theoretical templates to describe modulation sensitivity as a function of standard/test ratio. The results of other flicker studies indicate that flicker sensitivity would be expected to fall within the domain between a linear system (sensitivity proportional to the amplitude of modulation) and a Weberian system (sensitivity proportional to percent modulation). Using ‘red’ and ‘green’ lights, at low photopic luminances this expectation is well realized. At higher luminances and when the ‘red’ light is of higher luminance than the ‘green’, observers are much less sensitive to modulation than the models predict.