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Abnormal Adaptation of Visual Contrast Sensitivity In Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

J. Raymond ,
D. Regan  and
T.J. Murray
J. Raymond
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychology, Physiology and Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
D. Regan*
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychology, Physiology and Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
T.J. Murray
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychology, Physiology and Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
*
Departments of Physiology & Medicine, Dalhousie University, 7th Floor, Gerard Hall, Halifax Infirmary, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3L 2H6
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Some multiple sclerosis patients with 20/20 acuity complain of poor vision. In a previous report we accounted for this in our patient group by showing that multiple sclerosis had caused a depression of contrast sensitivity while sparing visual acuity. In this study we investigated whether some of this measured depression might be due to abnormally rapid or severe adaptation during the test procedure rather than a true permanent loss. Our finding was opposite to this supposition: adaptation was abnormally slight and/ or slow.

Depressed contrast sensitivity was not well correlated with abnormal adaptation to contrast. In patients whose contrast sensitivity losses were restricted to a band of spatial frequencies, we found no evidence that abnormalities of contrast adaptation were restricted to this same spatial frequency band. Further evidence of dissociation between abnormal contrast sensitivity and abnormal contrast adaptation is that some patients with normal contrast sensitivity showed abnormally small adaptation.

Our finding of abnormally slow or abnormally small contrast adaptation in MS patients seems to conflict with Enoch et al’s (1978) report of abnormally great adaptation after inspecting a bright stimulus. This apparent disagreement may be due to their use of prior dark adaptation, very bright adapting stimuli and patients in the acute stage of retrobulbar neuritis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , August 1981 , pp. 227 - 234
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1981

References

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