Scientists hormones change our vision

Thyroid hormones can affect color vision. Scientists at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) came to this surprising conclusion in a large study.

Image: Robert Kneschke - fotolia

Without the thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), nothing works. They regulate processes such as metabolism and participate in the development of the body and the nervous system. Surprisingly, how we recognize colors also depends on them. If the retina is under-supplied with such hormones, one perceives colors worse or can not see them at all.

"Thyroid hormones activate the synthesis of certain pigments in the retina. This process is extremely dynamic, because the synthesis is also influenced in adulthood when the hormone concentration fluctuates. This was demonstrated by experiments on rodents and humans, "explains the scientists.

The researchers studied one of the best known and most efficient thyroid hormone transporters in the retina of mice: MCT8 for short. Such transporters are extremely important - this is the only way to get the hormones into the target cells. MCT8 was particularly strong in the first weeks of life, in adult animals only in small amounts.

Therefore, the researchers suspect that the transporter plays a special role in the final phase of maturation of the retina, that is, as the neural network differentiates. This is also evident in the Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome, a genetic defect of MCT8 associated with significant mental and motor impairment. Further investigations are planned to find out how vision changes when the transporter is missing.