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Electrophysiological evidence for colour channels in human pattern vision

Abstract

LIGHT striking the eye is absorbed by three types of pigment preferentially sensitive to either red, green or blue light. The resulting neurophysiological signals are ultimately pooled before they activate the neural mechanism that underlies the perception of photometric brightness. On the other hand, the role of colour might be different when viewing coloured scenes containing fine detail (pattern vision) compared with standard photometric stimulus fields; colour signals may not be pooled as when perceiving brightness1,2. There is evidence that the human visual system handles red patterns in parallel with green and blue patterns1,2. I have attempted to determine spectral sensitivity curves for the red-sensitive and green-sensitive channels of human pattern vision. This was done objectively by measuring brain activity electrophysiologically.

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REGAN, D. Electrophysiological evidence for colour channels in human pattern vision. Nature 250, 437–439 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/250437a0

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