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Solvent related colour vision loss: an indicator of neural damage?

Previous studies have related colour vision loss to solvent exposure, raising the question as to its use as an indicator of solvent-related neurotoxic alterations. However, colour vision loss can likewise result from ocular damage. In the present study chromatic discrimination capacity and ocular integrity were examined among 23 workers of a paint manufacture plant exposed to solvent mixtures. Using industrial hygiene data, the workers were classified according to their exposure level: moderate (n = 13) and high (n = 10). Colour discrimination capacity was assessed using the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue, a colour arrangement test, providing qualitative and quantitative data. Biomicroscopy, funduscopy and peripheral visual field tests were used to examine ocular integrity. The results showed a significantly higher prevalence (P less than 0.02) of chromatic discrimination loss among the highly exposed workers (80%), as compared to the moderately exposed (23.1%). Ocular examination revealed no apparent major damage, although slight posterior sub-capsular opacification, indicative of incipient cataract, and, diminished foveal reflex were observed among 1/3 of the workers. Lens opacification was related to age and exposure duration, but not to exposure level. Diminished foveal reflex was not related to either age, exposure duration or level. Neither observation was related to chromatic discrimination loss. These findings support the hypothesis that chromatic discrimination impairment, associated with solvent exposure, reflects neural, rather than ocular, damage. The authors propose that tests of acquired colour vision loss be included in field batteries to evaluate neurotoxic effects of solvent exposure.

Adult↗

Pupillary abnormalities in schizophrenic patients during long-term administration of psychotropic drugs: dissociation between light and near vision reactions.

Pupillographic studies were made of the reactions to light and near vision in 12 schizophrenic patients under long-term administration of psychotropic drugs. The results showed a significant reduction in the light reaction, while the near vision reaction was preserved. The pupillographic study revealed not only reduction in amplitude of the light reaction but also changes in dynamic aspects of the reaction, i.e., prolonged latency time, shortened constriction time, and half redilatation time after the light stimulus. The mechanisms underlying the dissociation between light reaction and near vision reaction induced by long-term administration of psychotropic drugs are obscure, but both the peripheral and central actions of these drugs may be involved.

Adult↗

Pseudotumor cerebri with vision impairment in two children with renal transplantation.

The syndrome of pseudotumor cerebri consists of headaches, difficulty with vision and papilledema associated with raised intracranial pressure (ICP) without localizing neurological mass lesions. Recently, an association of pseudotumor cerebri and renal insufficiency, chronic dialysis or renal transplantation has been noted. Loss of vision remains a serious threat in children with pseudotumor cerebri. We report two children who developed pseudotumor cerebri with impairment of vision 5 years after renal transplantation. An awareness of this association should prompt the nephrologist to investigate and treat the symptoms of raised ICP to prevent visual loss.

Adolescent↗

Observations on color vision testing in ocular hypertension and glaucoma.

Forty-eight patients aged from 60 to 69 years (58 eyes) with ocular hypertension (OHT) or primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and a control group of 16 persons (31 eyes) were studied with six color vision tests: Standard Pseudoisochromatic Plates Part 2, Farnsworth Panel D 15, Farnsworth-Munsell 100-hue (FM 100) test, Lanthony Desaturated Panel, Nagel (red-green) anomaloscope, and Besançon (blue) anomalometer. In the color vision tests, the newly diagnosed OHT eyes without treatment differed significantly from the control group in the blue anomalometer. The long-term OHT eyes with treatment had no significant difference from the normals in any of the tests. The newly diagnosed POAG eyes without treatment were significantly different from the normals in the FM 100 test as well as in the boxes I, II, III and IV of the test, in the Lanthony Desaturated Panel and in the blue anomalometer. The long-term POAG eyes with treatment only differed significantly from the normal eyes in the blue anomalometer. The box IV of the FM 100 test and blue anomalometer were observed to be the most useful of these six tests in finding the possible early beginning of the blue color vision defect in the group of newly diagnosed OHT.

Aged↗

Color vision in Stargardt's disease.

The color vision of nine patients aged from 13 to 52 years with Stargardt's disease was studied with the following tests: Standard Pseudoisochromatic Plates part 2 (SSP2), Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test (FM100), Nagel (red-green) anomaloscope and Besançon (blue) anomalometer. At the beginning of the disease, a very slight defect in red-green color vision could be demonstrated. Later, a distinct acquired red (pseudo-protanomalous) defect in the Nagel anomaloscope and an abnormal error score in the FM100 test were observed. In advanced stages, the red defect became stronger (scotopization) and the FM100 test showed a red-green axis. In the course of the disease, a blue defect with the SPP2 plates and with the Besançon anomalometer could also be found. The visual acuities of the patients had a significant correlation with the matching ranges of the Rayleigh equation and the Moreland equation. The duration of the disease did not show any correlation with the color vision tests.

Adolescent↗

Brain wars: passion and conflict in the localization of vision in the brain.

David Ferrier and Hermann Munk, both pioneers in early brain research, engaged in a running controversy regarding the primary vision center in the brain. Both misinterpreted their experimental observations, but in different ways. Ferrier placed vision in the parietal lobe, Munk in the occipital lobe, However, Munk also felt he had observed a 'psychic blindness' in his animals, which was in reality only a central scotoma or other primary vision defect, and not the impairment of higher visual capacities that he proposed. Munk's concept has been repeatedly cited as the experimental correlate of visual agnosia, but is inherently fallacious.

Animals↗

Vision and cognition in the natural philosophy of Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus).

Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus, ca. 1197-1280) descended from a nobleman's family in Upper Suebia and studied natural philosophy and theology at the University of Padova, where he joined the Dominican order. Confronted with Aristotelian thought mainly in its Arabic modification (Avicenna, Al-Farabi, Averroes, Alhazen, Costa ben Luca and others) from his days in Padova, he elaborated in several books on the principles of natural philosophy, biology, brain and sense functions and psychology in addition to his theological and exegetic works. His observations and concepts on vision are discussed in detail. It is pointed out that Albert discovered some phenomena of vision not before known such as vestibular nystagmus and rod monochromacy, i.e. total colour blindness accompanied by photophobia. Based on clinical observations Albert also postulated a decussation of the optic nerve fibres at the optic chiasm. Albert's concept of higher order cognitive function is discussed and some of his explanations of dreams and neuropsychiatric disease on the basis of his cognitive model are mentioned. Albert's thoughts on vision and other sense perceptions, higher brain functions and cognition are considered as progressive elaborations of Galenic concepts as adapted by some Patristic theologians and the Arabic natural scientists and philosophers of the 9th-11th century.

Cognition↗

Binocular interactions in normal and anomalous binocular vision.

Binocular interactions for grating patterns were investigated in humans with normal binocular vision and in humans with abnormal binocular visual experience due to strabismus and/or amblyopia via 1) comparison of monocular and binocular contrast thresholds; 2) interocular transfer of the threshold elevation aftereffect; and 3) dichoptic masking. Whereas the normal observers showed improved binocular over monocular contrast sensitivity (i.e., binocular summation) and substantial interocular transfer of the threshold elevation aftereffect, the abnormal observers showed an absence of binocular summation and no significant interocular transfer. The dichoptic masking experiments showed that a suprathreshold masking grating presented to one eye elevated the contrast threshold for gratings presented to the fellow eye, within a narrow range of spatial frequencies (about 1 octave wide at half height) and orientations, centered about the spatial frequency and orientation of the mask. The magnitude and bandwidth of this masking effect was similar in subjects with normal and abnormal binocular vision, occurring even when the masking grating was presented to the amblyopic eye. These effects depend upon the contrast of the masking grating. In individuals with normal binocular vision, a grating with subthreshold contrast presented to one eye reduces the contrast threshold for detection of gratings of similar spatial frequency and orientation presented to the fellow eye. No such subthreshold summation is evident in the amblyopic observers. We conclude that while strabismus and/or amblyopia disrupted the normal excitatory interactions between the two eyes, cortical inhibitory binocular connections were not disrupted.

Adult↗

Vision complements echolocation in an aerial-hawking bat.

The northern bat Eptesicus nilssonii normally hunts flying insects in the air using frequency-modulated echolocation calls. It is also known to detect and catch visually conspicuous prey (white moths) hovering low among grass stalks. To overcome the problem with acoustic clutter from the grass, which interferes with target echo detection, the bats make use of visual cues in addition to those of echolocation. We therefore investigated the minimum size of prey that the bats could distinguish by using vision, by presenting the bats with different sized dead and spread moths. We found that vision increased the chance of detection only when the moths had a wingspan of at least 5 cm. Smaller targets were detected using echolocation alone. The mean detection range was 3.5 m, suggesting that the bats need a visual acuity of 49' of arc to detect the prey. This is consistent with results of optomotor response tests and counts of retinal ganglion cells in closely related species. Our results suggest that the visual acuity of Eptesicus bats may not be adequate for prey detection under normal conditions, but that the bats can use vision when the prey is unusually large and conspicuous. The northern bats display a flexibility in prey detection techniques not previously recognised among aerial-hawking bats and they are able to use their full visual capacity in the field.

Animals↗

Long-lasting aftereffect of a single prism adaptation: shifts in vision and proprioception are independent.

After a single adaptation session to prisms with gradually incremented shift magnitude, the prism adaptation aftereffect was measured by open loop mid-sagittal pointing (O) to a visual target without visual feedback. This aftereffect corresponded to the summation of the shift in proprioception, measured by straight ahead pointing without vision (S), and the visual straight ahead judgement (V), measured by verbal stopping of an LED moving from two opposite directions. However, the measurement of the aftereffects made over a period of 7 days revealed significantly different decay curves in V, O and S. Surprisingly the S shift was still present up to 7 days after the training, while V had returned to the original level by 2 h, which was the first measurement after subjects returned to a normal visual environment. O had returned to pre-test level after 1 day. After 3 days Wilkinson's (J Exp Psychol 89:250-257, 1971) additive hypothesis (O=S-V) no longer fit the data. Rather "O=Pl-V", where Pl (Pr) is the shift in proprioception measured by passive lateral arm movements from left (right), fitted better during the whole 7 days of aftereffect in our study. Therefore, the aftereffect of our strong prism adaptation revealed, firstly, that classical open loop pointing consisted of aftereffect shifts equal to the summation of the shifts in the two passively measurable aftereffect components, vision (V) and proprioception (Pl), rather than with active straight ahead pointing (S). Secondly, the decay of the shift in visual perception and in passively measurable proprioception is independent. The former decays fast, and the latter decays slowly with two separate waves. Thirdly, we suggest that the use of visual perception-dependent spatial codes for visual-manual transformation and the vision-independent internal egocentric reference frame are mutually exclusive. We proposed a model to explain these possible mechanisms.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Multisensory reweighting of vision and touch is intact in healthy and fall-prone older adults.

Unexplained falls in older adults are thought to arise from subtle deficits in multiple components of the postural control system, including peripheral sensory loss and central sensory processing. One commonly proposed central sensory processing deficit is a decline in the adaptive use of changing or conflicting sensory inputs for estimating body dynamics, i.e., multisensory reweighting. We examined the assumption of impaired multisensory reweighting in healthy and fall-prone older adults using quantitative methods that have previously demonstrated reweighting in young adults. Standing subjects were exposed to simultaneous medio-lateral oscillatory visual and fingertip touch inputs at varying relative amplitudes. No group differences in overall levels of vision and touch gain were found. Both healthy and fall-prone older adults demonstrated the same pattern of adaptive gain change as healthy young adults. Like the young adults, both elderly groups displayed clear evidence of intra- and inter-sensory reweighting to both vision and touch motion stimuli. These data suggest that, for small amplitude vision and touch stimuli, the central sensory reweighting adaptation process remains intact in healthy and fall-prone older adults with sufficiently intact peripheral sensation.

Accidental Falls↗

The timing of arm-trunk coordination is deficient and vision-dependent in Parkinson's patients during reaching movements.

The role of the basal ganglia in the coordination of different body segments and utilization of motor synergies was investigated by analyzing reaching movements to remembered three-dimensional (3D) targets in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Arm movements were produced alone or in combination with a forward bending of the trunk, with or without visual feedback. Movements in PD patients were more temporally segmented, as evidenced by irregular changes in tangential velocity profiles. In addition, the relative timing in the onsets and offsets of fingertip and trunk motions were substantially different in PD patients than in control subjects. While the control subjects synchronized both onsets and offsets, the PD patients had large mean intervals between the onsets and offsets of the fingertip and trunk motions. Moreover, PD patients showed substantially larger trial-to-trial variability in these intervals. The degree of synchronization in PD patients gradually increased during the movement under the influence of visual feedback. The mean and variability of the intersegmental intervals decreased as the fingertip approached the target. This improvement in timing occurred even though the separate variability in the timing of arm and trunk motions was not reduced by vision. In combined movements, even without vision, the PD patients were able to achieve normal accuracy, suggesting they were able to use the same movement synergies as normals to control the multiple degrees of freedom involved in the movements and to compensate for the added trunk movement. However, they were unable to recruit these synergies in the stereotyped manner characteristic of healthy subjects. These results suggest that the basal ganglia are involved in the temporal coordination of movement of different body segments and that related timing abnormalities may be partly compensated by vision. Abnormal intersegmental timing may be a highly sensitive indicator of a deficient ability to assemble complex movements in patients with basal-ganglia dysfunction. This abnormality may be apparent even when the overall movement goal of reaching a target is preserved and normal movement synergies appear to be largely intact.

Aged↗

Enhanced responsiveness of human extravisual areas to photic stimulation in patients with severely reduced vision.

Lesions in the primary visual cortex induce severe loss of visual perception. Depending on the size of the lesion, the visual field might be affected by small scotomas, hemianopia, or complete loss of vision (cortical blindness). In many cases, the whole visual field of the patient is affected by the lesion, but diffuse light-dark discrimination remains (residual rudimentary vision, RRV). In other cases, a sparing of a few degrees can be found (severely reduced vision, SRV). In a follow-up study, we mapped visually induced cerebral activation of three subjects with SRV using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We were especially interested in the visual areas that would be activated if subjects could perceive the stimulus consciously although information flow from V1 to higher visual areas was strongly reduced or virtually absent. Because subjects were only able to discriminate strong light from darkness, we used goggles flashing intense red light at a frequency of 3 Hz for full visual field stimulation. Besides reduced activation in V1, we found activation in the parietal cortex, the frontal eye fields (FEF), and the supplementary eye fields (SEF). In all patients, FEF activation was pronounced in the right hemisphere. These patterns were never seen in healthy volunteers. In a patient who recovered completely, we observed that extrastriate activation disappeared in parallel with the visual field restitution. This result suggests that damage to the primary visual cortex changes the responsiveness of parietal and extravisual frontal areas in patients with SRV. This unexpected result might be explained by increased stimulus-related activation of attention-related networks.

Adult↗

Common effects of touch and vision on postural parameters.

Subjects stood upright with the index finger of the right hand either touching a nearby surface gently or not touching it at all and with the eyes either open or closed. Trajectories of the center of pressure (COP) were analyzed as fractional Brownian motion. The extracted parameters were the effective diffusion (D) coefficients and Hurst (H) exponents for short-term time intervals (corresponding to positively correlated random walks) and long-term time intervals (corresponding to negatively correlated random walks). Gentle tactile contact reduced the effective stochastic activity measured by D to the same extent as the availability of vision. Further, touch interacted with time interval in the same way as vision, with the correlated activity closer to H = 0.5 at both time scales when the finger contacted the nearby surface. The results corroborate and extend major features of recent investigations of haptic influences on posture and recent analyses of vision's influence on the fractional Brownian motions of the COP. Discussion focused on (a) the equivalence of expropriospecific information (about the body's orientation to the environment) registered haptically and visually and (b) the possibility that postural sway may reflect exploratory motions in the short term (obtaining information about the postural system) and performatory motions in the long term (using this information).

Adolescent↗

[Color vision defects in patients with arterial hypertension].

PURPOSE: In view of the generally impaired vascular condition in patients with arterial hypertension, we were interested in their colour perception. METHODS: Patients (n = 35, f:m = 14:21, mean age 52 +/- 11 years) with arterial hypertension without damage in end-organs and normal subjects (n = 62, :m = 28:34, mean age 49 +/- 9 years) as a control group were included in this study. Exclusion criteria were other systemic or ophthalmological diseases. In addition to the ophthalmological examinations (visual acuity, refraction, intraocular pressure, slit lamp and fundus examination) the colour vision was tested by the colour arrangement test Roth 28-hue (E) desaturated under standard conditions: The background used was black cardboard, illuminated by two Osram fluorescent lamps (L36 W/12LDL Daylight) providing 2000 lux at the test table. RESULTS: The ophthalmological examinations in the patients and in the control group were normal. The patients with arterial hypertension had a significantly higher mean error score (median +/- mean absolute deviation 150 +/- 56, Mann-Witney U-test: p < 0.001) in the colour arrangement test than the control group (median +/- mean absolute deviation 72 +/- 53.4). A particular colour axis (blue-yellow or red-green) was not found. CONCLUSION: Although the ophthalmological examinations were normal we found a disturbed colour vision in patients with arterial hypertension. This has to be taken into account in colour vision testing to avoid diagnostic interferences between specifically ocular diseases (e.g. glaucoma) and arterial hypertension.

Adult↗

Coevolution of active vision and feature selection.

We show that complex visual tasks, such as position- and size-invariant shape recognition and navigation in the environment, can be tackled with simple architectures generated by a coevolutionary process of active vision and feature selection. Behavioral machines equipped with primitive vision systems and direct pathways between visual and motor neurons are evolved while they freely interact with their environments. We describe the application of this methodology in three sets of experiments, namely, shape discrimination, car driving, and robot navigation. We show that these systems develop sensitivity to a number of oriented, retinotopic, visual-feature-oriented edges, corners, height, and a behavioral repertoire to locate, bring, and keep these features in sensitive regions of the vision system, resembling strategies observed in simple insects.

Algorithms↗

Effect of vision on postural sway in anterior cruciate ligament injured knees.

Recent clinical studies have investigated postural sway characteristics in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-deficient knees, but the relative contributions of vision and ACL remain unclear. In the current study, we measured and compared postural sway during one-leg standing with eyes open and closed to assess the difference between legs with and without ACL injury, and we discuss the contribution of the ligament relative to vision and to postural sway in patients. We examined 32 patients (17 males, 15 females) with ACL injury before surgery from March 2001 through January 2004. None presented obvious dysfunction in the lower limbs or central nervous system. Using a gravicorder, we measured locus length per time (LG) and environmental area (AR) as the factors of postural sway during two-leg and one-leg standing with eyes open or closed. In the ACL-injured knee, the amount of postural sway increased significantly during injured leg standing with eyes closed (LG, P < 0.0001; AR, P < 0.0001), but it did not increase significantly with eyes open. There were no significant differences with respect to sex or general joint laxity. There was no correlation between postural sway and the anterior translation of the tibia measured by arthrometer KT2000 or between the muscle strength around the knee. We concluded that the amount of postural sway in the ACL-injured knee increased significantly on injured leg standing with eyes closed, and that vision appears to be dominant in compensating for the decreased contribution of the injured ACL.

Adult↗

Color vision deficiencies in the course of acute alcohol withdrawal.

Thirty-six male patients with a diagnosis of chronic alcoholism were detoxified and color vision tests were performed on day 4, 11, and 32 of their abstinence on an inpatient basis (Ishihara color plates, Nagel anomaloscope, three color-matching tests according to Farnsworth). Of the 36 patients, 47.2% manifested color vision deficiencies. The frequency of congenital red/green defects (11.1%) and a ratio of 3:1 deutan/protan defects showed no significant difference from the incidence in the normal population. In 36.1%, manifest acquired color vision deficiencies were diagnosed. Within the course of withdrawal, a marked improvement of these disturbances could be proved. The degree of the disturbance seems to correlate with the severity of withdrawal symptoms, but seems to be unrelated to acute toxic effects of alcohol, nicotine, or medication.

Adult↗