Spatial and Temporal Aspects of Visual Performance in Relation to Light Level and Normal Aging
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City Research Online City, University of London Institutional Repository Citation: Gillespie-Gallery, H. (2015). Spatial and temporal aspects of visual performance in relation to light level and normal aging. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City University London) This is the accepted version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/13520/ Link to published version: Copyright: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. Reuse: Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge. Provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. City Research Online: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/ [email protected] Spatial and temporal aspects of visual performance in relation to light level and normal aging Hanna Gillespie-Gallery Doctor of Philosophy Division of Optometry and Visual Science July 2015 1 THE FOLLOWING PARTS OF THIS THESIS HAVE BEEN REDACTED FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS: p36, Fig 6 p37, Fig 7 p52, Fig 14 p55, Fig 15 p57, Fig 16A p167, Fig 45 Our lives at times seem a study in contrast... love hate, birth death, right wrong... everything seen in absolutes of black white. Too often we are not aware that it is the shades of grey that add depth meaning to the starkness of those extremes. Ansel Adams 2 Contents Contents ............................................................................................................ 3 List of tables .................................................................................................... 10 List of figures ................................................................................................... 11 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................... 21 Declaration ....................................................................................................... 22 Abstract ........................................................................................................... 23 Abbreviations and symbols ................................................................................ 24 1. The visual system ......................................................................................... 25 1.1. The structure of the human eye .............................................................. 26 1.2. The cornea and sclera ............................................................................. 27 1.3. The pupil ............................................................................................... 27 1.4. The lens ................................................................................................. 28 1.5. The retina .............................................................................................. 28 1.5.1. Anatomy of the retina ....................................................................... 28 1.5.2. The macula and fovea ...................................................................... 30 1.5.3. Photoreceptors ................................................................................. 31 1.5.4. Post-receptoral retinal pathways ........................................................ 34 1.6. Post-retinal visual processing .................................................................. 36 1.6.1. The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) ................................................. 36 1.6.2. Visual cortex .................................................................................... 38 3 1.7. The aging human visual system ............................................................... 40 1.7.1. Light scatter and absorption in the eye; the role of aging .................... 41 1.7.2. Pupil miosis ...................................................................................... 44 1.7.3. Ocular aberrations ............................................................................ 45 1.7.4. Presbyopia ....................................................................................... 47 1.7.5. Aging of the retina ........................................................................... 48 1.7.6. Cellular aging in central visual pathways ............................................ 50 1.7.7. Age related macular degeneration ..................................................... 52 1.8. Spatial, temporal and chromatic visual perception .................................... 54 1.8.1. Spatial vision .................................................................................... 54 1.8.2. Temporal vision ................................................................................ 60 1.8.3. Colour vision .................................................................................... 64 1.9. Aims and objectives ................................................................................ 68 2. Spatial contrast thresholds in photopic and mesopic conditions; separating normal aging from disease ................................................................................ 69 2.1. Loss of spatial vision in aging and retinal disease ...................................... 69 2.1.1. Contrast vision and aging .................................................................. 69 2.1.2. Loss of contrast sensitivity in retinal disease ...................................... 73 2.1.3. Vision at low luminance levels in aging .............................................. 76 2.1.4. Vision at low luminances in AMD ....................................................... 80 2.2. Changes to binocular summation in aging ................................................ 85 2.2.1. Binocular summation beyond probability summation ........................... 85 4 2.2.2. Aging and binocular summation ........................................................ 88 2.2.3. Binocular summation variation with eccentricity .................................. 90 2.2.4. Binocular summation at low light levels .............................................. 90 2.3. Aims and objectives of the contrast and luminance study .......................... 91 2.4. Methods ................................................................................................. 93 2.4.1. Participants ...................................................................................... 93 2.4.2. Contrast sensitivity assessment ......................................................... 93 2.4.3. Estimates of lens optical density ........................................................ 97 2.4.4. Pupil measurements ......................................................................... 97 2.4.5. Estimating retinal illuminance ............................................................ 98 2.4.6. Calculating HRindex for contrast sensitivity ........................................... 98 2.4.7. Identifying participants with significantly elevated contrast thresholds . 99 2.4.8. Calculating binocular summation ratio (BSR) and interocular percentage increase (IPI) .......................................................................................... 100 2.4.9. Statistical analysis .......................................................................... 101 2.5. Results ................................................................................................. 102 2.5.1. Identification of outliers .................................................................. 102 2.5.2. Pupil size and age .......................................................................... 103 2.5.3. Contrast vision and the HRindex ........................................................ 104 2.5.3. Binocular summation of contrast vision ............................................ 113 2.6. Discussion ............................................................................................ 116 2.6.1. The HRindex at the fovea and parafovea ............................................ 116 5 2.6.2. Binocular summation of contrast signals .......................................... 118 2.7. Conclusions .......................................................................................... 119 3. Aging of temporal contrast sensitivity in the retina at mesopic and photopic luminances; separating normal aging from disease ........................................... 121 3.1. Temporal contrast sensitivity changes in aging and disease ..................... 121 3.1.1 Temporal contrast sensitivity changes in normal aging ....................... 122 3.1.2 Temporal contrast sensitivity changes and retinal disease .................. 124 3.1.3. Mechanisms for reduced temporal contrast sensitivity ....................... 127 3.2. Rod-cone interactions in flicker .............................................................. 129 3.3. Binocular summation of modulation flicker ............................................. 130 3.4. Aims and objectives of the flicker and luminance study ........................... 131 3.5. Methods ............................................................................................... 132 3.5.1. Participants ...................................................................................