|
Types of Color Blindness Information
There are a lot of different types of color blindness, although most people seem to only be aware of about two or three types. Before being able to understand why these types are actually different, it's really important to be able to understand how color vision works in the first place, and subsequently how general color blindness comes to be. All sight occurs when light goes in through the eye and stimulates The Retina, which is the gelatinous membrane that runs along the back surface of the human eye. Inside the Retina are two different types of cells known as rods and cones, which are named as such because of the distinctive ways in which they are shaped. The rods are responsible for distinguishing shapes in low light conditions, which is where the majority of our Night Vision comes from. If you think about the time right before dawn, the colors are never as bright or as clear as they usually are. That's because what you're seeing at that moment is largely influenced by the rods, not the cones. That's similar to what a colorblind person sees, no matter what types of color blindness they may have. The cones in the retina aren't reacting as much as they normally would, and so all of the colors sort of blend together.
In broad daylight conditions, we rely more on the cones in the retina, which are directly responsible for the way in which we perceive color. These cones are light sensitive, but they're not all sensitive to the same type of light. Light travels in waves, and each different color is carried along on a different wavelength. Each one of these wavelengths is only different by between 400 and 700 nm (nanometers). As such, each different type of cone is genetically coded to produce pigments for a certain wavelength. Therefore, when red light enters our eyes, the cones responsible for red light will produce the appropriate pigment, which will signal our brain that we are looking at something that's colored red. Sometimes the genetic code sort of malfunctions, and the result is that the cones start producing the wrong pigment, which makes them more sensitive to the wrong light wavelength. Ergo, a color deficiency. Most types of color blindness do not look at the world in black and white; in fact, it's only very rare that that happens, and when it does it is called monochromacy. Scientists think this is caused by something different altogether. A colorblind person would rather simply be deficient in a certain color. The most common type of color blindness is called Red Green Color Blindness , and is where either the red or the green pigments are malfunctioning. Therefore, the person would not be able to see the color red. Their brain would actually replace that color with something else, but since it's an imperfect process you often get a lot of bleeding of colors and hues. Living with Color Blindness doesn't have to be a challenge.
Subscribe to EyeSight Vision Care! , our monthly newsletter with in depth information to help you keep up to date on how to Protect Your Eyesight with a free bonus. Fill out the form below. You'll then receive an email asking you to confirm that you subscribed. You'll always have the option to unsubscribe at the click of your mouse. Types of Color Blindness to Color Blindness Test Charts
|
More Information
