Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T19:11:21.567Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Long-term renormalization of chromatic mechanisms following cataract surgery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2005

PETER B. DELAHUNT ,
MICHAEL A. WEBSTER ,
LEI MA  and
JOHN S. WERNER
PETER B. DELAHUNT
Affiliation:
Department of Ophthalmology and Section of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California—Davis
MICHAEL A. WEBSTER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno
LEI MA
Affiliation:
Department of Ophthalmology, Shanxi Medical University, China
JOHN S. WERNER
Affiliation:
Department of Ophthalmology and Section of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California—Davis
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The optical density of the human crystalline lens progressively increases with age, the greatest increase in the visible spectrum being at short wavelengths. This produces a gradual shift in the spectral distribution of the light reaching the retina, yet color appearance remains relatively stable across the life span, implying that the visual system adapts to compensate for changes in spectral sensitivity. We explored properties of this adaptive renormalization by measuring changes in color appearance following cataract surgery. When the lens is removed, cataract patients often report a large perceptual shift in color appearance that can last for months. This change in color appearance was quantified for four cataract patients (63–84 years) by determining the chromaticity of stimuli that appeared achromatic before surgery, and at various intervals after surgery for up to 1 year. Stimuli were presented on a calibrated CRT as 9.5-deg spots, with 3-s duration and 3-s interstimulus intervals (ISIs). Chromaticity was adjusted by the subjects in CIE L*a*b* color space with luminance fixed at 32 cd/m2, on a dark background. We also estimated the optical density of the cataractous lens by comparing absolute scotopic thresholds from 410 nm to 600 nm before and after surgery. The results demonstrated that immediately following surgery there is a large increase in the short-wave light reaching the retina, mainly below 500 nm. The achromatic settings generally showed an initial large shift in the “yellow” direction after surgery that gradually (but never fully) returned to the original achromatic point before surgery. The shifts in the achromatic point occur over a number of months and appear to occur independently of the fellow eye.

Keywords

CataractAchromatic settingsAdaptationColor constancyColor appearance
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , May 2004 , pp. 301 - 307
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Arend, L.E. & Reeves, A. (1986). Simultaneous color constancy. Journal of the Optical Society of America A 3, 1743–1751.Google Scholar
Ayama, M., Suda, N., & Narisada, K. (2001). Color appearance of elderly observer with and without intraocular lens. Proceedings of the International Workshop on Gerontechnology, Tsukuba, Japan: National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, pp. 81–82.
Bauml, K.H. (1999). Simultaneous color constancy: How surface color perception varies with the illuminant. Vision Research 39, 1531–1550.Google Scholar
Brainard, D.H. (1997). The psychophysics toolbox. Spatial Vision 10, 433–436.Google Scholar
Brainard, D.H. (1998). Color constancy in the nearly natural image. 2. Achromatic loci. Journal of the Optical Society of America A 15, 307–325.Google Scholar
Brainard, D.H. & Wandell, B.A. (1992). Asymmetric color-matching: How color appearance depends on the illuminant. Journal of the Optical Society of America A 9, 1433–1448.Google Scholar
Brainard, D.H., Peli, D.G., & Robson, T. (2002). Display characterization. In The Encyclopedia of Imaging Science and Technology, ed. Hornak, J., pp. 172–188. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Brown, N.P. (1999). Classification and pathology of cataract. In Oxford Textbook of Ophthalmology, Vol. 2, ed. Easty, D.L. & Sparrow, J.M., pp. 474–482. New York: Oxford University Press.
Eisner, A. & Enoch, J.M. (1982). Some effects of 1 week's monocular exposure to long-wavelength stimuli. Perception and Psychophysics 31, 169–174.Google Scholar
Grace, A. (1990). Optimization Toolbox for Use with MatLab—User's Guide. Natick, Massachusetts: The Mathworks, Inc.
Granville, W.C. (1990). Colors do look different after a lens implant. Color Research and Application 15, 59–62.Google Scholar
Kraft, J.M. & Brainard, D.H. (1999). Mechanisms of color constancy under nearly natural viewing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 96, 307–312.Google Scholar
Kraft, J.M. & Werner, J.S. (1999). Aging and the saturation of colors. 2. Scaling of color appearance. Journal of the Optical Society of America A 16, 231–235.Google Scholar
McCollough, C. (1965). Color adaptation of edge-detectors in the human visual system. Science 149, 1115–1116.Google Scholar
Mollon, J.D. & Reffin, J.P. (2000). Handbook of the Cambridge Colour Test. London, UK: www.crsltd.com.
Neitz, J., Carroll, J., Yamauchi, Y., Neitz, M., & Williams, D.R. (2002). Color perception is mediated by a plastic neural mechanism that is adjustable in adults. Neuron 35, 783–792.Google Scholar
Okajima, K., Tsuchiya, N., & Yamashita, K. (2002). Age-related changes in colour appearance depend on unique-hue components. Proceedings of the SPIE 4421, 259–262.
Pelli, D.G. (1997). The VideoToolbox software for visual psychophysics: Transforming numbers into movies. Spatial Vision 10, 437–442.Google Scholar
Pirie, A. (1968). Color and solubility of the proteins of human cataracts. Investigative Ophthalmology 7, 634–642.Google Scholar
Pokorny, J., Smith, V.C., & Lutze, M. (1987). Aging of the human lens. Applied Optics 26, 1437–1440.Google Scholar
Regan, B.C., Reffin, J.P., & Mollon, J.D. (1993). Luminance noise and the rapid determination of discrimination ellipses in colour deficiency. Vision Research 34, 1279–1299.Google Scholar
Rinner, O. & Gegenfurtner, K.R. (2000). Time course of chromatic adaptation for color appearance and discrimination. Vision Research 40, 1813–1826.Google Scholar
Schefrin, B.E. & Werner, J.S. (1993). Age-related changes in the color appearance of broadband surfaces. Color Research and Application 18, 380–389.Google Scholar
Schefrin, B.E., Adams, A.J., & Werner, J.S. (1991). Anomalies beyond sites of chromatic opponency contribute to sensitivity losses of an S-cone pathway in diabetes. Clinical Vision Sciences 6, 219–228.Google Scholar
Shinomori, K., Schefrin, B.E., & Werner, J.S. (2001). Age-related changes in wavelength discrimination. Journal of the Optical Society of America A 18, 310–318.Google Scholar
Walraven, J. & Werner, J.S. (1991). The invariance of unique white: A possible implication for normalizing cone action spectra. Vision Research 31, 2185–2193.Google Scholar
Weale, R.A. (1988). Age and the transmittance of the human crystalline lens. Journal of Physiology (London) 395, 577–587.Google Scholar
Werner, J.S. & Schefrin, B.E. (1993). Loci of achromatic points throughout the life span. Journal of the Optical Society of America A 10, 1509–1516.Google Scholar
Wolf, E. & Kluxen, G. (1983). Colour vision in a case of unilateral nuclear cataract. In Colour Vision Deficiencies VII, ed. G. Verriest, The Hague: Dr. W. Junk Publishers.
Wyszecki, G. & Stiles, W.S. (1982). Color Science—Concepts and Methods, Quantitative Data and Formulae (2nd edition). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Young, R.W. (1991). Age-Related Cataract. New York: Oxford University Press.