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Table 1 Previous attempts to define and represent blindness

From: Representing vision and blindness

Ontology

Term

Definition

Parent Class

Gene Ontology (GO)

Visual perception

The series of events required for an organism to receive a visual stimulus, convert it to a molecular signal, and recognize and characterize the signal. Visual stimuli are detected in the form of photons and are processed to form an image.

Sensory perception of light stimulus

GO

Detection of visible light

The series of events in which a visible light stimulus is received by a cell and converted into a molecular signal. A visible light stimulus is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived visually by an organism; for organisms lacking a visual system, this can be defined as light with a wavelength within the range 380 to 780 nm.

Detection of light stimulus

GO

Detection of light stimulus involved in visual perception

The series of events involved in visual perception in which a light stimulus is received and converted into a molecular signal.

Visual perception

GO

Determination of sensory modality

The determination of the type or quality of a sensation. Sensory modalities include touch, thermal sensation, visual sensation, auditory sensation and pain.

Sensory processing

Mammalian Phenotype (MP)

Blindness

Loss of the sense of sight.

Abnormal vision

MP

Abnormal vision

Inability or decreased ability to see.

Abnormal eye physiology

MP

Decreased visual acuity

Loss of visual acuity or ability to distinguish small details

Abnormal visual acuity

Human Disease Ontology (DOID)

Blindness

N/A

Retinal disease

DOID

Color blindness

A blindness that is characterized by the inability or decreased ability to see color, or perceive color differences, under normal lighting conditions.

Blindness

Human Phenotype (HP)

Blindness

Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.

Visual Impairment