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

Background: The Dress picture recently has become a hot topic on the Internet, prompting a debate whether it was black and blue, or white and gold.
Objective: To 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.
Methods: We developed a questionnaire to record demographics, clinical features, and The Dress color perception, posted on general and MS-specific social networks.
Results: No 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.
Conclusion: The 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.
(Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)