[A study on examination of color vision with pattern-visual evoked potential].
OBJECTIVE
To understand the specific nature of the color and brightness components of the human visual evoked potential and explore the possibility of an objective method for examining the color vision.


METHODS
The transient VEP was measured in normal subjects and persons with deficient color vision by multichannel electro-physiological apparatus. In the experiment, four kinds of reversal checkerboard patterns are simulated by the computer software technology as stimuli. The patterns included black-white (95% contrast), isoluminance chromatic checkerboards red-white, green-white, red-green (100% saturation), which were 25 ' in visual angle and alternated at a rate of 0.8 Hz. The main component, P (1) wave, was analyzed.


RESULTS
(1) The normal subject group: The P (1) latencies in four conditions were obtained in terms of the length of latencies, the ordinal of P (1) latencies (from short to long) was as follows: red-white < black-white < red-green < green-white. There were very significant differences among the four latencies (P < 0.01). The P (1) amplitudes elicited with the black-white were higher than those with chromatic ones. But among the P(1) amplitudes elicited with chromatic checkerboards there were no difference. (2) The group with deficient color vision: There were no significant differences in the P(1) latencies and amplitudes elicited with the four stimuli. The length of latencies with black-  white stimulus was the shortest. Red-green blindness as well as deuteranopia had no response to green stimulus but did to red or red-green stimulus. (3) Between the two groups, there were no differences in the P (1) latencies, but the P (1) amplitudes of persons with deficient color vision elicited with the chromatic stimuli were obviously lower.


CONCLUSIONS
The results show that it is feasible to use chromatic VEP for examining congenital color vision deficiency, especially for red-green blindness and deuteranopia. At present, there is lack of quantitative and qualitative results of color VEP examination.
Department of Ophthalmology, The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210011, China. gloryshu@sina.com
Hong
H
Liu
Jingqiu
J
Guo
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D003117:Color Vision Defects / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*