The Dress: Transforming a web viral event into a scientific survey

•Web viral event can have a solid scientific background, deserving to be studied.•MS can affect visual structures involved in color perception.•Cognitive function Gives an important contribution to color perception.•A less demanding black and blue vision of The Dress associated with more advanced MS.•Social network sites can be a useful for recruiting and studying MS patients.

BackgroundThe Dress picture recently has become a hot topic on the Internet, prompting a debate whether it was black and blue, or white and gold.ObjectiveTo investigate The Dress color perception in both multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, characterized by frequent visual system impairment with ensuing color vision effects, and general population.MethodsWe developed a questionnaire to record demographics, clinical features, and The Dress color perception, posted on general and MS-specific social networks.ResultsNo statistically significant differences were observed in The Dress color perception between MS patients (n=103) and general population (n=441). Furthermore, white and gold color perception was positively associated with aging in the general population (p=0.04), whereas negatively associated with progressive course (p=0.03) and longer disease duration (p<0.001) in MS patients, independently from patients' age.ConclusionThe Dress black and blue or white and gold perception might be due to aging in the general population, whereas black and blue perception, despite of aging, might suggest a specific effect of the MS burden (i.e. disease duration and progression) on the visual structures specifically involved in the white and gold perception.

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