title: Different sensations from cones with the same photopigment.
abstract: We used adaptive optics to study color fluctuation in the appearance of tiny flashes of light. For five subjects, near threshold, monochromatic stimuli with full widths at half maximum of 1/3 arcmin were delivered throughout a patch of retina near 1 deg in which we also determined the locations of L, M, and S cones. Subjects reported a wide variety of color sensations, even for long-wavelength stimuli, and all subjects reported blue or purple sensations at wavelengths for which S cones are insensitive. Subjects with more L cones reported more red sensations, and those with more M cones tended to report more green sensations. White responses increased linearly with the asymmetry in L to M cone ratio. The diversity in the color response could not be completely explained by combined L and M cone excitation, implying that photoreceptors within the same class can elicit more than one color sensation.
authors.affiliation: Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA. heidi@cvs.rochester.edu
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Singer
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017949:Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D012168:Retinal Pigments / Q000502:physiology*; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D012168:Retinal Pigments