title: Contrast sensitivity, first-order motion and Initial ocular following in demyelinating optic neuropathy.
abstract: The ocular following response (OFR) is a measure of motion vision elicited at ultra-short latencies by sudden movement of a large visual stimulus. We compared the OFR to vertical sinusoidal gratings (spatial frequency 0.153 cycles/ degrees or 0.458 cycles/ degrees) of each eye in a subject with evidence of left optic nerve demyelination due to multiple sclerosis (MS). The subject showed substantial differences in vision measured with stationary low-contrast Sloan letters (20/63 OD and 20/200 OS at 2.5% contrast) and the Lanthony Desaturated 15-hue color test (Color Confusion Index 1.11 OD and 2.14 OS). Compared with controls, all of the subject's OFR to increasing contrast showed a higher threshold. The OFR of each of the subject's eyes were similar for the 0.153 cycles/ degrees stimulus, and psychophysical measurements of his ability to detect these moving gratings were also similar for each eye. However, with the 0.458 cycles/ degrees stimulus, the subject's OFR was asymmetric and the affected eye showed decreased responses (smaller slope constant as estimated by the Naka-Rushton equation). These results suggest that, in this case, optic neuritis caused a selective deficit that affected parvocellular pathways mediating higher spatial frequencies, lower-contrast, and color vision, but spared the field-holding mechanism underlying the OFR to lower spatial frequencies. The OFR may provide a useful method to study motion vision in individuals with disorders affecting anterior visual pathways.
authors.affiliation: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Janet C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Rucker
authors.forename: Boris M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Sheliga
authors.forename: Edmond J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Fitzgibbon
authors.forename: Frederick A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Miles
authors.forename: R John
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Leigh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology*; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009901:Optic Nerve Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time