652 How Blind are the Color Blind?
Class | Registration opens 2/3/2025 11:00 AM
Roughly 10% of human males are “color blind.” Therefore, it seems likely that you, one or more of your relatives, or others you know are color blind, as is the driver approaching the stop light on your right. But what does it mean to be color blind? Or, turning this question around, what does it mean to NOT be color blind?
We will begin with a brief description of the brain, focusing on the parts most relevant to vision. Given that background, we can begin to learn about color blindness, including issues such as:
- how color blindness is defined and tested
- common and uncommon forms of color blindness
- the genetic and neural characteristics of color blindness
- the prospects for the treatment of color blindness
- the possibility of “super” (better than normal) color vision
These issues will be of interest to someone who is colorblind. But learning about vision, especially color vision, should be of interest to all.
REQUIRED TEXT: Oliver Sacks, The Island of the Colorblind, Vintage Books, 1998, ISBN 0-375-70073-0.
Owen Floody
OWEN FLOODY is professor emeritus of psychology at Bucknell University, where he was affiliated with the University’s programs in animal behavior and neuroscience. His research included study of the hormonal and brain mechanisms controlling reproductive and aggressive behaviors in animals. He travels extensively to pursue his interests in nature and photography.