title: Impulse response of an S-cone pathway in the aging visual system.
abstract: Age-related changes in the temporal properties of an S-cone pathway were characterized by the psychophysical impulse-response function (IRF). Participants included 49 color-normal observers ranging in age from 16.8 to 86.3 years. A double-pulse method was used to measure the IRF with S-cone modulation at constant luminance. Stimuli were presented as a Gaussian patch (+/-1SD = 2.3 degrees ) in one of four quadrants around a central fixation cross on a CRT screen. The test stimulus was modulated from the equal-energy white of the background toward the short-wave spectrum locus. Each of the two pulses (6.67 ms) was separated by an interstimulus interval (ISI) from 20 to 720 ms. Chromatic detection thresholds were determined by a four-alternative forced-choice method with staircases for each ISI in one session. IRFs were calculated from the threshold data using a model with four parameters of an exponentially damped sine wave. S-cone IRFs have only an excitatory phase and a much longer time course compared with IRFs for luminance modulation measured with the same apparatus. The results demonstrated significant age-related losses in IRF amplitude, but the latency (time to peak) of the IRF was stable with age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Systems Engineering, Kochi University of Technology, Kami-city, Kochi 782-8502, Japan.
authors.forename: Keizo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shinomori
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Werner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D017949:Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*