March 2012
Volume 53, Issue 14
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   March 2012
Contrast sensitivity, but not contrast gain, is affected in asymptomatic carriers of 11778 Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON) as assessed with the pedestal--pedestal protocol
Mirella Gualtieri; Russell D. Hamer; Marcio L. Bandeira; Daniela M. Bonci; Solange R. Salomao; Adriana Berezovsky; Valerio Carelli; Alfredo A. Sadun; Dora F. Ventura
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Mirella Gualtieri
    Experimental Psychology, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • Russell D. Hamer
    Experimental Psychology, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
  • Marcio L. Bandeira
    Experimental Psychology, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • Daniela M. Bonci
    Experimental Psychology, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • Solange R. Salomao
    Departamento de Oftalmologia, Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • Adriana Berezovsky
    Departamento de Oftalmologia, Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • Valerio Carelli
    Neurological Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
  • Alfredo A. Sadun
    Neuro-Ophthal/Keck-USC Sch of Med, Doheny Eye Institute, Los Angeles, California
  • Dora F. Ventura
    Experimental Psychology, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships  Mirella Gualtieri, None; Russell D. Hamer, None; Marcio L. Bandeira, None; Daniela M. Bonci, None; Solange R. Salomao, None; Adriana Berezovsky, None; Valerio Carelli, None; Alfredo A. Sadun, None; Dora F. Ventura, None
  • Footnotes
    Support  USP, FAPESP, CNPq, IFOND
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science March 2012, Vol.53, 4808. doi:
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      Mirella Gualtieri, Russell D. Hamer, Marcio L. Bandeira, Daniela M. Bonci, Solange R. Salomao, Adriana Berezovsky, Valerio Carelli, Alfredo A. Sadun, Dora F. Ventura; Contrast sensitivity, but not contrast gain, is affected in asymptomatic carriers of 11778 Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON) as assessed with the pedestal--pedestal protocol. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2012;53(14):4808.

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Abstract

Purpose: : Contrast gain (CG) is a fundamental mechanism affecting cellular operating range and sensitivity at all levels of the visual system, starting at the retina. Psychophysical signatures of CG changes have been found in a ganglion cell-based disease - glaucoma - by Sun et al. (2008). LHON is also characterized by a retinal ganglion cell loss and even asymptomatic carriers of the disease exhibit significant losses in contrast sensitivity and color vision (Ventura et al., 2005, 2007; Gualtieri et al., 2008). However, carriers’ CG has not yet been evaluated. In this study we assessed the magno- (M) and parvocellular (P) CG signatures in LHON carriers using the pedestal-Δ-pedestal (PDP) test introduced by Pokorny & Smith (1997) as modified by Sun et al. (2008).

Methods: : 24 LHON carriers and 9 controls were tested. A 30 cd/m2 achromatic 4-square (1o x 1o each) pedestal (P) is presented continuously on a 19 cd/m2 background. During each trial, the P is incremented transiently for 225 ms to a new (delta-pedestal, DP) level. Observers had to identify which of the 4 squares (the test square, TS) had been incremented above the 3 neighboring squares during the 1st 25 ms of the DP presentation. Thresholds (Thd) were measured for 10 values of the DP spaced linearly on log cd/m2 axis over 0.36 log units. Thds were measured using a 4AFC staircase utilizing unequal up- and down steps sizes (Garcia-Perez, 1998) with a minimum of 14 reversals.

Results: : The mean Thds for the carriers were significantly elevated above the control’s for all values of DP. The shape of the PDP functions were similar in the LHON patients and the controls.

Conclusions: : The data are consistent with a significant loss of achromatic contrast sensitivity in both M and P channels without concomitant changes in the contrast gain of either.

Keywords: cornea: basic science • neuropeptides 
© 2012, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc., all rights reserved. Permission to republish any abstract or part of an abstract in any form must be obtained in writing from the ARVO Office prior to publication.
Copyright © 2025 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
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