[Optical density of human macular pigment in spectral sensitivity measurements]

Optical density of the human macular pigment was measured by studying the spectral sensitivities to 1 degree, 200 ms test flashes on a 430 nm monochromatic background in the fovea and 10 degrees outside the fovea. Narrow-band (6 to 10 nm half band width) interference filters were used for the test lights. The difference between the spectral sensitivity in the fovea and outside the fovea coincided with the optical density of the macular pigment estimated previously by psychophysical means. We suggest that this method is useful for investigating the optical density of human macular pigment.