Originally published January 3 2006
Cambridge researchers make new discoveries about color blindness
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Current Biology published a study from the University of Cambridge that found color blind people may actually be more sensitive to color differences that cannot be detected by those with normal vision.
The University of Cambridge team found these people were able to distinguish between pairs that looked identical to those with "normal" colour vision.
Colours are detected by humans through the combined action of three different types of cone photoreceptor cells, each of which is optimally activated by different wavelengths of light.
These sensitivities are altered in deuteranomalous colour blind individuals because they possess a variant form of one of the cone photoreceptors.
The sensitivity of cones that should be "middle-wave" is shifted toward that of "long-wave" cones.
This results in decreased ability to differentiate between some colours that are easily distinguishable by those with normal colour vision.
In theory, however, it is possible that owing to the altered sensitivities of their cone photoreceptors, people with deuteranomalous colour blindness may be sensitive to colour differences that are not apparent to those with normal colour vision.
The finding suggests that although these individuals may be blind to some colours accessible to people who are not colour blind, they also have a sensitivity to a "colour dimension" that is inaccessible to those with normal colour vision.
In fact, the researchers found people with deuteranomalous colour blindness gave large difference ratings to pairs of colours which appeared indistinguishable to others.
"In part, this might be because random colour variations are less salient than structural or textural variations for the colour blind.
He said the findings of the latest research would probably only apply to those people with the biggest gap in sensitivity between their long-wavelength sensitive and middle-wavelength sensitive cones.
However, he said it was possible that the tests used in the study, when combined with standard tests of colour vision, may be a more sensitive indicator of the severity of a person's colour vision defect.
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