Spectral sensitivity of the 2-month infant as measured by the visually evoked cortical potential

Abstract

The spectral sensitivity functions of five 2-month infantsand two adults were determined through measurement of implicit time of the visually evoked cortical potential(VEP). Implicit times were plotted against log energy for each of eight wavelengths throughout the spectrum. Spectral sensitivity curves derived from these plots show that the 2-month infant is similar to the adult for wavelengths above 550 nm, but somewhat more sensitive than the adult below 550 nm. A likely explanation is that the macular pigment is less dense in the infant than in the adult, and therefore more short-wave radiation reaches the infant's photoreceptors.