Effect of Local Cold Application on the Fusion Frequency of Flicker

¹ From the Departments of Ophthalmology and Physiological Hygiene, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The effect of local cold application (immersion of one arm in ice water) on the flicker fusion frequency (FFF) was studied in 106 healthy older men, comparing two brightness levels differing by 1:10 and two ambient light ratios (zero and 95%). Cold application produced a pronounced and, statistically, a highly significant increase of the FFF which was more pronounced (mean +3.7 cps) at lower brightness than at the higher brightness (+2.4 cps) of the test patch, and more pronounced at the high ambient light ratio (+3.2 vs. 2.3). The greater increase at low brightness is due to the condition of illumination rather than to a low initial FFF per se, as shown by comparison of 15 men with the highest and 15 men with the lowest initial FFF at four different conditions of test-patch illumination. The magnitude of the concomitant significant increase of the blood pressure was not correlated to the increase of the FFF.

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