Variation of color discrimination across the life span

The present study, an extension of Paramei [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A, 29, A290, 2012], provides normative data on chromatic discrimination, using the Cambridge Colour Test, for normal trichromats aged 10-88 years. Findings are in accord with a two-phase variation across the life span: chromatic sensitivity improves in adolescence, reaches a maximum around 30 years, and then undergoes a gradual decrease. Indicative parameters are Protan (P), Deutan (D), and Tritan (T) vector lengths and major axes and axis ratios of Ellipses. Trivector data are modeled as non-monotonic combinations of power functions, with goodness-of-fits R-P(2) = 0.23, R-D(2) = 0.23, and R-T(2) = 0.45. For advancing age, sensitivity decline in all chromatic systems was confirmed, though with a marked acceleration after 60 years (reflected by the power function exponent > 1) and more pronounced for the tritan system. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America