Acrylamide effects on the macaque visual system. I. Psychophysics and electrophysiology.

Oral acrylamide produces axonal swelling and later degeneration and gliosis in the distal optic tract, especially within the lateral geniculate nucleus, of macaque monkeys. Measures of visual thresholds and cortical-evoked potentials were used to study the time course of visual changes during exposure to acrylamide in macaque monkeys. Contrast sensitivity, visual acuity, and flicker fusion frequency were reduced during exposure, and only flicker fusion recovered rapidly and completely after exposure. Pattern-reversal-evoked responses exhibited increased latency and reduced amplitude during dosing but substantially recovered after exposure. Visual acuity and contrast sensitivity for high spatial frequencies were decreased throughout the 140 days of testing after dosing. These results suggest an acute general depression of visual capacities as the initial effect of acrylamide exposure, whereas later effects were confined to high spatial frequencies.