Macular Pigment Density of Japanese Subjects

Abstract

Color perception is known to differ among individuals. One visual mechanism that can mediate that difference is the density of the macular pigment, which lies in front of the fovea, where it can absorb part of the light entering the eye. In order to verify whether this is a reason for individual difference in color perception, it is essential to conduct psychophysical experiments on subjects whose macular pigment density is known. In this study, we measured the macular pigment density of 44 subjects via heterochromatic flicker photometry. The result was an average density of 0.389, with standard deviation of 0.129. This result will enable us to conduct visual experiments that clarify the spectral sensitivity of these subjects, and determine whether there is any relation between color vision and macular pigment density.