Temporal contrast sensitivity in optic neuritis and amblyopia

Temporal contrast sensitivity was measured in patients with optic neuritis and anisometropic amblyopia. In optic neuritis, attenuated sensitivity was detected at all frequency ranges; however, its degree was more severe than that of retinal diseases even when visual acuity was the same. At the convalescent stage, the low-frequency sensitivity was restored first, and high-frequency loss was observed even when the visual acuity was restored to 1.0. Two amblyopic patients showed attenuated sensitivity at high- and intermediate-frequency ranges, and in one case all frequency sensitivity attenuated. Three other patients showed normal sensitivity. By occlusion of the nonamblyopic eye, recovery of sensitivity was observed in one patient, whose visual acuity improved.