In fact, the top layer of a blue iris doesn't contain any pigment at all. This lack of pigment is the reason that blue-eyed people may be more sensitive to bright light and have a greater need to wear sunglasses than their brown-eyed counterparts.
Generally speaking, patients with lighter color irises, such as blue or gray, experience more light sensitivity than someone with brown eyes. The density of pigment in light eyes is less than that of a darker colored iris. When light hits a dark-colored iris, the higher density in pigment blocks the light rays.
While blue eyes are more sensitive to light during the day, people with blue eyes tend to see better at night – unless there are bright lights. In that case, the lack of melanin makes them as sensitive to light at night as they are during the day.
A study in 2012 made this finding, and found light blue eyes didn't block outside light as well as other colored eyes. In other words, light blue eyes 'let in' more light vs. all other colored eyes, which can cause more glare and light sensitivity outside, such when as driving or just being outdoors.”
More melanin also means better protection from the sun-- the pigment in your eyes literally protects your retina. Light eyes such as blue, green or grey are more sensitive in sunlight. Most people are sensitive to sudden light, such as walking out of a dark hallway on a sunny day.
Blue Eyes are More Sensitive to Light
Melanin in the iris of the eye appears to help protect the back of the eye from damage caused by UV radiation and high-energy visible “blue” light from sunlight and artificial sources of these rays.
According to some studies, there is a slight difference in vision capabilities based on eye color. Light-eyed people (with blue or green eyes) have slightly better night vision because they have less pigment in the iris, which which leaves the iris more translucent and lets more light into the eye.
Lighter-colored eyes have less pigment to protect against sun damage and UV radiation compared to darker-colored eyes. This means that people with green, hazel, or blue eyes are more sensitive to light and more susceptible to UV damage.
Iris Color
This makes lighter eyes more sensitive to light and is what makes people with blue eyes more likely to have age-related macular degeneration. Macular degeneration is caused when the light sensitive cells in the eyes start to die, which can eventually result in blindness.
When broken down by gender, men ranked gray, blue, and green eyes as the most attractive, while women said they were most attracted to green, hazel, and gray eyes. Despite brown eyes ranking at the bottom of our perceived attraction scale, approximately 79% of the world's population sports melanin-rich brown eyes.
Disadvantages of Blue Eyes
Typically, people with blue eyes are likely to be more sensitive to light. With less pigment in the layers of the iris, they may be unable to block out the effects of bright fluorescent lights or sunlight. This condition of light sensitivity is called photophobia.
There are plenty of blue-eyed Asians. This probably happens when the traditional blue-eyed allele comes into a family from a (possibly very distant) European ancestor. Blue eyes then resurface in a child generations later if they inherit the allele from both parents.
In fact, the top layer of a blue iris doesn't contain any pigment at all. This lack of pigment is the reason that blue-eyed people may be more sensitive to bright light and have a greater need to wear sunglasses than their brown-eyed counterparts.
Blue eyes also represent innocence and carefree. Brown eyes are a more mature eye color and represent stability, security and strength.
If you have blue, green or hazel eyes, you may catch yourself squinting in bright light more often than your brown-eyed friends. You may have a more extensive sunglasses collection, too!
Green is the rarest eye color in the world, with only 2% of the world's population (and fewer than one out of ten Americans) sporting green peepers, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).
Eye color doesn't significantly affect the sharpness of your vision, but it can affect visual comfort in certain situations. It all comes down to the density of the pigment melanin within your iris, which determines what colors of light are absorbed or reflected.
More pigment accumulates in the iris over the first few months of a child's life and blue eyes can become less blue or even turn completely brown. For most children, eye color stops changing after the first year, but for some kids the color can continue to change for several more years.
Blue is the second most common eye color globally, with an estimated 8 to 10 % of people having blue eyes. A majority of these people are of European descent, however, Black people can be born with blue eyes even though it's pretty rare.
While lighter-colored eyes may be more sensitive to sunlight, they are not necessarily more sensitive to vision. In fact, blue eyes have better visual acuity than brown eyes. This means that blue-eyed people can see small details more clearly.
If you have blue or green eyes, you need to wear a pair of sunglasses every time you go out on a bright day. That's because light-colored eyes are associated with a higher risk for sun damage and certain eye diseases, such as cataracts, macular degeneration, photokeratitis or “eye sunburn,” and certain cancers.
In most people, the answer is no. Eye color fully matures in infancy and remains the same for life. But in a small percentage of adults, eye color can naturally become either noticeably darker or lighter with age.
Approximately 8% to 10% of the global population have blue eyes. A 2002 study found that the prevalence of blue eye color among the white population in the United States to be 33.8% for those born from 1936 through 1951, compared with 57.4% for those born from 1899 through 1905.
“Can two parents with blue eyes have a child with brown eyes?” Yes, blue-eyed parents can definitely have a child with brown eyes.
Blue or gray, which occurs when someone has no pigment (melanin) in the front layer of the iris. Around 1 in 4 people in the U.S. have blue eyes. Brown, which is the most common eye color in the world. Green, which is the least common eye color.