Navegando por Autor "VENTURA, Dora Selma Fix"

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Avaliação visual de sujeitos expostos de forma ocupacional a solventes orgânicos através de métodos psicofísicos
(2011) LACERDA, Eliza Maria da Costa Brito; VENTURA, Dora Selma Fix; SILVEIRA, Luiz Carlos de Lima
Organic solvents are neurotoxic substances that can cause damaging effects in the visual system. Occupational exposure to these substances is common because they are used in a wide variety of activities. These effects can be quantified by specific psychophysical tests. The most commonly used tests for color vision assessment are arrangement tests, such as the Lanthony Panel D-15 desaturated test and the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-hue test, and for contrast sensitivity assessment, printed panel tests such as the MCT 8000 VISTECH, VCTS 6500VISTECH, and FACT 101 tests. Generally, these tests show color discrimination losses in the blue-yellow and red-green axis, and a decrease in contrast sensitivity, mainly at low spatial frequencies. There is a positive correlation between psychophysical results and biological environmental markers, but this correlation depends on the marker and on the kind of solvent to which the individuals are exposed. Factors such as alcohol and tobacco can interfere with the correlation of the results.
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Chromatic spatial contrast sensitivity estimated by visual evoked cortical potential and psychophysics
(2013-02) BARBONI, Mirella Telles Salgueiro; GOMES, Bruno Duarte; SOUZA, Givago da Silva; RODRIGUES, Anderson Raiol; VENTURA, Dora Selma Fix; SILVEIRA, Luiz Carlos de Lima
The purpose of the present study was to measure contrast sensitivity to equiluminant gratings using steady-state visual evoked cortical potential (ssVECP) and psychophysics. Six healthy volunteers were evaluated with ssVECPs and psychophysics. The visual stimuli were red-green or blue-yellow horizontal sinusoidal gratings, 5° × 5°, 34.3 cd/m2 mean luminance, presented at 6 Hz. Eight spatial frequencies from 0.2 to 8 cpd were used, each presented at 8 contrast levels. Contrast threshold was obtained by extrapolating second harmonic amplitude values to zero. Psychophysical contrast thresholds were measured using stimuli at 6 Hz and static presentation. Contrast sensitivity was calculated as the inverse function of the pooled cone contrast threshold. ssVECP and both psychophysical contrast sensitivity functions (CSFs) were low-pass functions for red-green gratings. For electrophysiology, the highest contrast sensitivity values were found at 0.4 cpd (1.95 ± 0.15). ssVECP CSF was similar to dynamic psychophysical CSF, while static CSF had higher values ranging from 0.4 to 6 cpd (P < 0.05, ANOVA). Blue-yellow chromatic functions showed no specific tuning shape; however, at high spatial frequencies the evoked potentials showed higher contrast sensitivity than the psychophysical methods (P < 0.05, ANOVA). Evoked potentials can be used reliably to evaluate chromatic red-green CSFs in agreement with psychophysical thresholds, mainly if the same temporal properties are applied to the stimulus. For blue-yellow CSF, correlation between electrophysiology and psychophysics was poor at high spatial frequency, possibly due to a greater effect of chromatic aberration on this kind of stimulus.
Acesso aberto (Open Access)
Color vision loss in patients treated with chloroquine
(2003) VENTURA, Dora Selma Fix; SILVEIRA, Luiz Carlos de Lima; NISHI, Mauro; COSTA, Marcelo Fernandes da; GUALTIERI, Mirella; ALEXANDRE, Ruth Mayanna Araújo dos Santos; PINTO, Carolina Trindade; MOURA, Ana Laura de Araújo; RODRIGUES, Anderson Raiol; SAKURADA, Claudio; SAUMA, Maria de Fátima L. C.; SOUZA, John Manuel de
Patients that make use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine, drugs which are frequently administered for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erithromatosus or malaria, may suffer alterations in color vision and in contrast sensitivity. The present work evaluates the visual function of these patients in a joint study of the University of São Paulo (USP), in São Paulo, and of the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), in Belém. Thirty two chloroquine user patients without alterations in the eye fundus exam were evaluated in São Paulo (n=10; aged 38 to 71 years; mean=55,8 years) and in Belém (n=22; aged 20 to 67; mean=40 years). The prescribed accumulated chloroquine dose was 45 to 430 g (mean=213 g; sd = 152 g) for the São Paulo group, and 36 to 540 g (mean=174 g; sd=183 g) for the Belém group. Tests were performed monocularly with corrected eye refractive state. Color discrimination was evaluated using the Cambridge Colour Test (CCT): the color discrimination threshold was measured first in the protan, deutan and tritan axes and, in succession, three MacAdam's ellipses were determined. The patient's color vision was also evaluated with color arrangement tests: the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue (FM100), the Farnsworth-Munsell D15, and the Lanthony Desaturated (D15d) tests. We also measured the contrast sensitivity for black-and-white sine wave grating of twenty two patients. The results were compared with controls without ophthalmologic or neuro-ophthalmologic pathologies. Twenty four patients presented acquired dyschromatopsia. There were cases of selective loss (11 patients) and of diffuse loss (13 patients). Although losses were present in the FM100 there was no correlation between the FM100 error score and the ellipse area measured by the CCT. Moreover, three patients that scored normal in the FM100, failed to reach normal threshold in the CCT. The Lanthony test was less sensitive than the other two tests, since it failed to indicate loss in about half the patients, and the D15 was the least sensitive test, having failed to indicate loss in 9 out of 10 patients. Contrast sensitivity was within normal values for patients submitted to this test. The extent of losses in color discrimination was positively correlated with the accumulated dose. The CCT is recommended for follow up since it provides quantitative data that can be directly interpreted in CIE (Commission Internationalle d'Éclairage) color space.
Acesso aberto (Open Access)
Comparison of the reliability of multifocal visual evoked cortical potentials generated by pattern reversal and pattern pulse stimulation
(2012-10) SOUZA, Givago da Silva; SCHAKELFORD, H.B.; MOURA, Ana Laura de Araújo; GOMES, Bruno Duarte; VENTURA, Dora Selma Fix; FITZGERALD, M.E.C.; SILVEIRA, Luiz Carlos de Lima
This study compared the effectiveness of the multifocal visual evoked cortical potentials (mfVEP) elicited by pattern pulse stimulation with that of pattern reversal in producing reliable responses (signal-to-noise ratio >1.359). Participants were 14 healthy subjects. Visual stimulation was obtained using a 60-sector dartboard display consisting of 6 concentric rings presented in either pulse or reversal mode. Each sector, consisting of 16 checks at 99% Michelson contrast and 80 cd/m2 mean luminance, was controlled by a binary m-sequence in the time domain. The signal-to-noise ratio was generally larger in the pattern reversal than in the pattern pulse mode. The number of reliable responses was similar in the central sectors for the two stimulation modes. At the periphery, pattern reversal showed a larger number of reliable responses. Pattern pulse stimuli performed similarly to pattern reversal stimuli to generate reliable waveforms in R1 and R2. The advantage of using both protocols to study mfVEP responses is their complementarity: in some patients, reliable waveforms in specific sectors may be obtained with only one of the two methods. The joint analysis of pattern reversal and pattern pulse stimuli increased the rate of reliability for central sectors by 7.14% in R1, 5.35% in R2, 4.76% in R3, 3.57% in R4, 2.97% in R5, and 1.78% in R6. From R1 to R4 the reliability to generate mfVEPs was above 70% when using both protocols. Thus, for a very high reliability and thorough examination of visual performance, it is recommended to use both stimulation protocols.
Acesso aberto (Open Access)
Espaço de cores
(2006) SANTANA, Claudia Feitosa; OIWA, Nestor Norio; COSTA, Marcelo Fernandes da; TIEDEMANN, Klaus Bruno; SILVEIRA, Luiz Carlos de Lima; VENTURA, Dora Selma Fix
The article presents definitions for the terms color space and color system. In agreement with David Brainard (2003), it classifies the color systems in two groups: color appearance and color difference. Amongst the existing color systems, the article also presents the description of the Munsell Color System, one of the most used among the color appearance systems, and of the CIE 1931, one of the most used color difference systems. In addition, an historical retrospect of the search for color spaces that represent the human color perception as well as the reconstruction of color spaces with electrophysiological and psychophysical methods, are described. Many of these reconstructions use the multidimensional scaling methods (mds). Finally, the article presents the possibility for reconstruction of color spaces of patients with acquired dyschromatopsia as a distortion of the color space of normal trichromats.
Acesso aberto (Open Access)
Losses of immunoreactive parvalbumin amacrine and immunoreactive alphaprotein kinase C bipolar cells caused by methylmercury chloride intoxication in the retina of the tropical fish Hoplias malabaricus
(2006-03) BONCI, Daniela Maria Oliveira; LIMA, Silene Maria Araújo de; GRÖTZNER, Sonia Regina; RIBEIRO, Ciro Alberto de Oliveira; HAMASSAKI, Dânia Emi; VENTURA, Dora Selma Fix
To quantify the effects of methylmercury (MeHg) on amacrine and on ON-bipolar cells in the retina, experiments were performed in MeHg-exposed groups of adult trahiras (Hoplias malabaricus) at two dose levels (2 and 6 µg/g, ip). The retinas of test and control groups were processed by mouse anti-parvalbumin and rabbit anti-aprotein kinase C (aPKC) immunocytochemistry. Morphology and soma location in the inner nuclear layer were used to identify immunoreactive parvalbumin (PV-IR) and aPKC (aPKC-IR) in wholemount preparations. Cell density, topography and isodensity maps were estimated using confocal images. PV-IR was detected in amacrine cells in the inner nuclear layer and in displaced amacrine cells from the ganglion cell layer, and aPKC-IR was detected in ON-bipolar cells. The MeHg-treated group (6 µg/g) showed significant reduction of the ON-bipolar aPKC-IR cell density (mean density = 1306 ± 393 cells/mm2) compared to control (1886 ± 892 cells/mm2; P < 0.001). The mean densities found for amacrine PV-IR cells in MeHg-treated retinas were 1040 ± 56 cells/mm2 (2 µg/g) and 845 ± 82 cells/mm2 (6 µg/g), also lower than control (1312 ± 31 cells/mm2; P < 0.05), differently from the data observed in displaced PV-IR amacrine cells. These results show that MeHg changed the PV-IR amacrine cell density in a dose-dependent way, and reduced the density of aKC-IR bipolar cells at the dose of 6 µg/g. Further studies are needed to identify the physiological impact of these findings on visual function.
Acesso aberto (Open Access)
Mercury toxicity in the Amazon: contrast sensitivity and color discrimination of subjects exposed to mercury
(2007-03) RODRIGUES, Anderson Raiol; SOUZA, Cleidson Ronald Botelho de; BRAGA, Alexandre Melo; RODRIGUES, Paulo Sergio Silva; SILVEIRA, Antonio Tobias; DAMIN, Enira Teresinha Braghirolli; CÔRTES, Maria Izabel Tentes; CASTRO, Antonio José de Oliveira; MELLO, Guilherme Arantes; VIEIRA, José Luiz Fernandes; PINHEIRO, Maria da Conceição Nascimento; VENTURA, Dora Selma Fix; SILVEIRA, Luiz Carlos de Lima
We measured visual performance in achromatic and chromatic spatial tasks of mercury-exposed subjects and compared the results with norms obtained from healthy individuals of similar age. Data were obtained for a group of 28 mercury-exposed subjects, comprising 20 Amazonian gold miners, 2 inhabitants of Amazonian riverside communities, and 6 laboratory technicians, who asked for medical care. Statistical norms were generated by testing healthy control subjects divided into three age groups. The performance of a substantial proportion of the mercury-exposed subjects was below the norms in all of these tasks. Eleven of 20 subjects (55%) performed below the norms in the achromatic contrast sensitivity task. The mercury-exposed subjects also had lower red-green contrast sensitivity deficits at all tested spatial frequencies (9/11 subjects; 81%). Three gold miners and 1 riverine (4/19 subjects, 21%) performed worse than normal subjects making more mistakes in the color arrangement test. Five of 10 subjects tested (50%), comprising 2 gold miners, 2 technicians, and 1 riverine, performed worse than normal in the color discrimination test, having areas of one or more MacAdam ellipse larger than normal subjects and high color discrimination thresholds at least in one color locus. These data indicate that psychophysical assessment can be used to quantify the degree of visual impairment of mercury-exposed subjects. They also suggest that some spatial tests such as the measurement of red-green chromatic contrast are sufficiently sensitive to detect visual dysfunction caused by mercury toxicity.
Acesso aberto (Open Access)
Métodos utilizados na avaliação psicofísica da visão de cores humana
(2011) LIMA, Monica Gomes; GOMES, Bruno Duarte; VENTURA, Dora Selma Fix; SILVEIRA, Luiz Carlos de Lima
Color is a perceptual attribute that allows organisms to identify and to locate environmental patterns of equal brightnesses and constitutes an additional dimension in object identification, in addition to the detection of several other object dimensions in relation with the visual scene. Color therefore serves an important role in animal and human interaction with the environment. By supplying ways to evaluate aspects of human vision, including color vision, visual psychophysics focusses on the quantitative study of the relation between physical events of sensory stimulation and the resulting behavioral response. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate several efficient techniques in the evaluation of the chromatic human vision through adaptive psychophysical methods.
Acesso aberto (Open Access)
The genetics of New World monkey visual pigments
(2013-07) BONCI, Daniela Maria Oliveira; NEITZ, Maureen; NEITZ, Jay; SILVEIRA, Luiz Carlos de Lima; VENTURA, Dora Selma Fix
To have color vision, having at least two cone photopigment types with different spectral sensitivities present in distinct photoreceptors is necessary together with the neural circuitry necessary to extract color information. Visual pigments are highly conserved molecules, but differences can be found among vertebrate groups. Primates have a variety of cone photopigments (i.e., opsins) that are expressed by polymorphic genes. This article examines the diversity of cone photopigments in New World monkeys and their behavioral relevance.