title: M- and L-cones in early infancy: I. VEP responses to receptor-isolating stimuli at 4- and 8-weeks of age.
abstract: A silent-substitution technique combined with measures of the visually-evoked potential (VEP) was used to determine whether M- and L-cones are functional in early infancy. Data were successfully collected from twenty six infants in response to three receptor-isolation conditions (rod, M- and L-cone isolation) and a luminance-modulation condition. The efficacy of the receptor-isolation conditions was first verified by measuring VEP responses from both dichromatic and color-normal adults to each of the receptor-isolation conditions. Both 4- and 8-week-old infants demonstrated VEP responses to the M- and L-cone isolating stimuli, though the amplitude of the the responses at 4-weeks were reduced compared to those at 8-weeks. These data suggest that the functioning of M- and L-cones can be differentiated as early as 4-weeks of age.
authors.affiliation: Institut de l'Ingénierie de la Vision, Université Jean Monnet, St. Etienne, France. knoblauc@vision.univ-st-etienne.fr
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Knoblauch
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Bieber
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Werner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002657:Child Development; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D017949:Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D013053:Spectrophotometry