Gender based alteration in color perception.

ABSTRACT

Human beings are able to perceive hundreds of shades of color which depends on the three types of cone system and various ratios of stimulation in response to different wavelengths. Perceptually and cognitively, men and women may experience appearance of color differently. Therefore, this study was planned to assess and compare color vision in male and female subjects. This study was carried out in the department of Physiology, SGRRIM&HS, Dehradun on 60 ocular healthy subjects (equal number of males and females) of 17–22 years of age group. The task was to match 22 test color strips with 2 shade charts of different colors. Total number of correct answers and total time taken in matching all the test color strips with the shade charts was recorded in both the sexes and analyzed. The results of this study showed that overall, females gave more correct responses (P<0.001) and also took less time (P<0.01) than males. Color wise also, females gave more correct responses especially for red (P<.001) and green color (P<0.01). The conclusion states that the females can see more shades of colors than males.