Influence of Macular Pigment on the Sensitivity to Discomfort Glare from Daylight

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2023 Oct 30

PMID 37899478

Authors

Sneha Jain

Jan Wienold

Chiara Eandi

Sara Gisselbaek

Aki Kawasaki

Marilyne Andersen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Understanding the factors that influence the human perception of glare is necessary to properly address glare risks in buildings and achieve comfortable visual environments, especially in the workplace. Yet large inter-individual variabilities in glare perception remain unexplained and thus uncovered by the current empirical glare models. We hypothesize that this variability has an origin in the human retina, in particular in the density of macular pigments present in its central area, which varies between individuals. Macular pigments are known to absorb blue light and attenuate chromatic aberration, thus reducing light scatter. This study presents the outcomes of the first experiment ever conducted in a daylit office environment, in which glare sensitivity and macular pigment density were measured and compared for 110 young healthy individuals, along with other ocular parameters. The participants were exposed to different glare conditions induced by the sun filtered through either color-neutral or blue-colored glazing. In neutral daylight conditions with sun disc in the near periphery, neither macular pigment nor any other investigated ocular factors have an impact on discomfort glare perception whereas glare perception in conditions with the blue-colored sun disc in the near periphery was found to be correlated with macular pigment optical density.

References

Patterson E, Bargary G, Barbur J . Understanding disability glare: light scatter and retinal illuminance as predictors of sensitivity to contrast. J Opt Soc Am A Opt Image Sci Vis. 2015; 32(4):576-85. DOI: 10.1364/JOSAA.32.000576. View

Bernstein P, Delori F, Richer S, van Kuijk F, Wenzel A . The value of measurement of macular carotenoid pigment optical densities and distributions in age-related macular degeneration and other retinal disorders. Vision Res. 2009; 50(7):716-28. PMC: 2840187. DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2009.10.014. View

Davies N, Morland A . Macular pigments: their characteristics and putative role. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2004; 23(5):533-59. DOI: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2004.05.004. View

Stringham J, Fuld K, Wenzel A . Spatial properties of photophobia. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2004; 45(10):3838-48. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.04-0038. View

Spearman C . The proof and measurement of association between two things. By C. Spearman, 1904. Am J Psychol. 1987; 100(3-4):441-71. View

Hammond Jr B, Wooten B, Snodderly D . Preservation of visual sensitivity of older subjects: association with macular pigment density. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1998; 39(2):397-406. View

van der Veen R, Berendschot T, Hendrikse F, Carden D, Makridaki M, Murray I . A new desktop instrument for measuring macular pigment optical density based on a novel technique for setting flicker thresholds. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2009; 29(2):127-37. DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-1313.2008.00618.x. View

Stringham J, Snodderly D . Enhancing performance while avoiding damage: a contribution of macular pigment. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2013; 54(9):6298-306. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.13-12365. View

Loughman J, Akkali M, Beatty S, Scanlon G, Davison P, ODwyer V . The relationship between macular pigment and visual performance. Vision Res. 2010; 50(13):1249-56. DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2010.04.009. View

10.

Stringham J, Garcia P, Smith P, McLin L, K Foutch B . Macular pigment and visual performance in glare: benefits for photostress recovery, disability glare, and visual discomfort. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011; 52(10):7406-15. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.10-6699. View

11.

Stringham J, Bovier E, Wong J, Hammond Jr B . The influence of dietary lutein and zeaxanthin on visual performance. J Food Sci. 2010; 75(1):R24-9. DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2009.01447.x. View

12.

Berendschot T, van Norren D . On the age dependency of the macular pigment optical density. Exp Eye Res. 2005; 81(5):602-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2005.03.019. View

13.

Hammond Jr B, Fletcher L, Elliott J . Glare disability, photostress recovery, and chromatic contrast: relation to macular pigment and serum lutein and zeaxanthin. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012; 54(1):476-81. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.12-10411. View

14.

Wilson M, Sandberg K, K Foutch B . Macular pigment optical density and visual quality of life. J Optom. 2020; 14(1):92-99. PMC: 7753046. DOI: 10.1016/j.optom.2020.07.008. View

15.

Mangione C, Berry S, Spritzer K, Janz N, Klein R, Owsley C . Identifying the content area for the 51-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire: results from focus groups with visually impaired persons. Arch Ophthalmol. 1998; 116(2):227-33. DOI: 10.1001/archopht.116.2.227. View

16.

Wenzel A, Fuld K, Stringham J, Curran-Celentano J . Macular pigment optical density and photophobia light threshold. Vision Res. 2006; 46(28):4615-22. DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2006.09.019. View

17.

Stringham J, Hammond B . Macular pigment and visual performance under glare conditions. Optom Vis Sci. 2008; 85(2):82-8. DOI: 10.1097/OPX.0b013e318162266e. View

18.

Mainster M, Turner P . Glare's causes, consequences, and clinical challenges after a century of ophthalmic study. Am J Ophthalmol. 2012; 153(4):587-93. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajo.2012.01.008. View

19.

Yamakawa M, Tsujimura S, Okajima K . A quantitative analysis of the contribution of melanopsin to brightness perception. Sci Rep. 2019; 9(1):7568. PMC: 6527610. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44035-3. View

20.

Curcio C, Medeiros N, Millican C . Photoreceptor loss in age-related macular degeneration. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1996; 37(7):1236-49. View