Abstract
On testing my own vision in very dim light I observed two phenomena associated with the lack of retinal rods (the receptors specialized for vision in dim light) in the fovea, the region corresponding to our centre of gaze. First, a bright (or dark) straight line passing through the fovea was seen as discontinuous, with a clear 1° gap. Second, after adapting to dim light conditions, when I blocked light to one eye as far as possible and viewed a brightly lit surface with the other eye, I perceived a swarm of colourless scintillations throughout the visual field of the occluded eye, except for an area about 1° in diameter at the centre of gaze. Each scintillation may represent the simultaneous capture of single quanta by several closely spaced rods.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Hubel, D. H. & Livingstone, M. S. L. J. Neurosci. 7, 3378–3415 (1987).
Hecht, S., Shlaer, S. & Pirenne, M. H. J. Gen. Physiol. 25, 819 (1942).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hubel, D. Vision in dim light. Nature 388, 32–33 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/40308
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/40308
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
