Premium
Acute Ethanol Administration Causes Transient Impairment of Blue‐Yellow Color Vision
Author(s) -
Russell Robert M.,
Carney Elizabeth A.,
Feiock Katharine,
Garrett Michele,
Karwoski Patricia
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1980.tb04838.x
Subject(s) - ethanol , incidence (geometry) , ophthalmology , medicine , color vision , retinal , blindness , optometry , chemistry , optics , biochemistry , physics
The higher incidence of blue‐yellow color blindness (tritanopia) found among alcoholics could be due to genetic or acquired factors. The acute administration of ethanol to alcoholics and normal subjects transiently resulted in poorer color discrimination in all spectra but with significantly more errors in the blue‐yellow versus the red‐green color range (p < 0.005, p < 0.01). Thus, ethanol appears to act as a toxin to inner retinal layers, which could account for the higher incidence of tritanopia found among alcoholics.