Rod contributions to color perception: linear with rod contrast.
At mesopic light levels, an incremental change in rod activation causes changes in color appearance. In this study, we investigated how rod mediated changes in color perception varied as a function of the magnitude of the rod contrast. Rod-mediated changes in color appearance were assessed by matching them with cone-mediated color changes. A two-channel four-primary colorimeter allowed independent control of the rods and each of the L-, M- and S-cone photoreceptor types. At all light levels, rod contributions to inferred PC, KC and MC pathway mediated vision were linearly related to the rod incremental contrast. This linear relationship could be described by a model based on primate ganglion cell responses with the assumption that rod signals were conveyed via rod-cone gap junctions at mesopic light levels.
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Science, University of Chicago, 940 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. d-cao@uchicago.edu
Dingcai
D
Cao
Joel
J
Pokorny
Vivianne C
VC
Smith
Andrew J
AJ
Zele
D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D003623:Dark Adaptation / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011601:Psychophysics; D017949:Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000502:physiology; D017948:Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D055258:Rod-Cone Interaction / Q000502:physiology; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology