Sensitivity to temporal luminance modulation in congenital nystagmus.

Uniform field temporal contrast sensitivity functions were compared for 10 subjects with congenital nystagmus (seven idiopathic, three with albinism) and 10 normal observers. Sensitivity to luminance modulation did not differ significantly from normal at any temporal frequency tested except 0.5 Hz, at which the subjects with nystagmus had slightly higher sensitivity. In conjunction with other recent findings, their essentially normal temporal contrast sensitivity suggests that persons with nystagmus process retinal information continuously, rather than selectively during only only one phase of the nystagmus.