Achromatic Mechanisms Research Articles

Chromatic collinear facilitation, further evidence for chromatic form perception

Collinear facilitation of contrast detection of achromatic stimuli has been studied over the past decade by different groups. We measured collinear facilitation of chromatic contrast detection under equal-luminance (photometric quantity) and under isoluminance (minimum motion technique) conditions, as two different controls. The facilitation was tested for chromatic contrast detection of a foveal Gabor signal flanked by two high chromatic-contrast Gabor signals. The results indicated a significant facilitation in the presence of spatial adjacent collinear chromatic contrast signals, when the flankers were located at a short distance, across all observers for three chromatic channels. The facilitation was compared to a non-collinear flanker configuration. The results indicated no facilitation effect at the opposing phase configuration, at a short flanker distance, whereas a small facilitation was observed with a configuration at a longer flanker distance. The findings suggest that the performance and specificity of chromatic collinear facilitation is not impaired with regard to achromatic mechanisms.

A comparison of the BOLD fMRI response to achromatic, L/M opponent and S-cone opponent cardinal stimuli in human visual cortex: I. perceptually matched vs contrast matched stimuli

Aims: Our primary aim was to compare the responsiveness of the different visual cortical areas to stimulation of the two cone opponent systems and the achromatic system. The appropriate contrast metric for the comparison of color and luminance sensitivity is unknown, however, and so our secondary aim was to investigate whether equivalent fMRI responses of each cortical area could better be predicted from perceptual matches (in multiples of detection threshold) or a direct contrast match (in cone contrast). Methods:MR images were acquired on a 4T Bruker MedSpec. Stimuli were sinewave counter-phasing rings (2Hz, 0.5cpd) cardinal for the selective activation of the L/M cone opponent (RG), S cone opponent (BY) and achromatic (Ach) systems. In different scans, stimuli were matched either at 25x detection threshold or in cone contrast (6%). We performed both stereotaxic and region of interest analyses on early visual areas (V1-V4v, and hMT+). Results: For stimuli presented in multiples of detection threshold, BOLD responses in areas V1, V2, V3/VP and V4v are greatest for BY stimuli and weaker for both RG and achromatic stimuli, with the BY response significantly higher than the RG. For the same stimuli matched in cone contrast, the RG and BY response is similar in these areas. The averaged color response (RG & BY) was no different from the achromatic response with the exception of V1, which had a greater averaged color than achromatic response. Conclusions:Perceptual visibility is not a good indicator of cortical activity across the RG, BY and achromatic mechanisms. fMRI BOLD signals are better predicted by cone contrast. Regardless of the metric, our data suggest a similar response to color (averaged RG & BY) and achromatic stimuli in V2, V3, VP and V4v. V1 shows a greater response to color, particularly with the cone contrast metric. Areas hMT+ and V3A do not follow these patterns and are discussed in a related abstract (Dumoulin et al).

Vision abnormalities in young children exposed prenatally to organic solvents

Despite an accumulating body of evidence demonstrating that the visual system is an important target for organic solvent toxicity in adults, little attention has been paid to the visual functioning of children with prenatal exposure to organic solvents. The present study aimed to: (1) determine prospectively whether prenatal solvent exposure increases the risk of visual deficits in infants and (2) assess the relationship between estimates of exposure level and integrity of visual responses. A sample of 21 infants born to women who were occupationally exposed to solvents during pregnancy was compared with 27 non-exposed age-matched control infants. All mothers were recruited from Motherisk, an antenatal counseling service in Toronto, Canada. Contrast sensitivity and grating acuity were assessed using a sweep visual evoked potential (VEP) technique whereas chromatic- and achromatic mechanisms were assessed using a transient VEP technique. Exposure level was estimated from questionnaire data obtained during pregnancy. Testers were masked to exposure status. Results showed a significant reduction in contrast sensitivity in the low and intermediate spatial frequency range in solvent-exposed infants compared to controls ( p < 0.001). With respect to grating acuity, there was a significant effect of exposure level, with children in the high exposed having reduced grating acuity compared with children in the low exposed group ( p < 0.025) and controls ( p = 0.02). Regarding color vision, 26.3% of infants in the exposed group versus 0% of the controls produced abnormal VEP responses to the red–green onset stimulus ( p < 0.01), but not to either blue–yellow or achromatic stimuli. No differences were found with respect to latency or amplitude of chromatic and achromatic response. These findings suggest that prenatal solvent exposure is associated with selective visual deficits, including reduced contrast sensitivity and abnormal red–green vision. Increasing levels of exposure may lead to further visual deficits affecting grating acuity. These findings support the need for a re-evaluation of current occupational exposure standards for pregnant women.

Functional evidence for cone‐specific connectivity in the human retina

Physiological studies of colour vision have not yet resolved the controversial issue of how chromatic opponency is constructed at a neuronal level. Two competing theories, the cone-selective hypothesis and the random-wiring hypothesis, are currently equivocal to the architecture of the primate retina. In central vision, both schemes are capable of producing colour opponency due to the fact that receptive field centres receive input from a single bipolar cell - the so called 'private line arrangement'. However, in peripheral vision this single-cone input to the receptive field centre is lost, so that any random cone connectivity would result in a predictable reduction in the quality of colour vision. Behavioural studies thus far have indeed suggested a selective loss of chromatic sensitivity in peripheral vision. We investigated chromatic sensitivity as a function of eccentricity for the cardinal chromatic (L/M and S/(L + M)) and achromatic (L + M) pathways, adopting stimulus size as the critical variable. Results show that performance can be equated across the visual field simply by a change of scale (size). In other words, there exists no qualitative loss of chromatic sensitivity across the visual field. Critically, however, the quantitative nature of size dependency for each of the cardinal chromatic and achromatic mechanisms is very specific, reinforcing their independence in terms of anatomy and genetics. Our data provide clear evidence for a physiological model of primate colour vision that retains chromatic quality in peripheral vision, thus supporting the cone-selective hypothesis.

Orientation selectivity in luminance and color vision assessed using 2-d band-pass filtered spatial noise

We evaluated orientation discrimination in color and luminance vision using an external noise paradigm. Stimuli were spatiotemporal patches of 2D orientation noise isolating the achromatic, red–green and blue–yellow mechanisms, and matched in multiples of contrast detection threshold. We found a monotonic increase of orientation discrimination thresholds with the stimuli orientation bandwidths that is similar for both color and luminance contrasts. This dependence was fitted with two suitable models. A variance summation model suggests that internal orientation noise is significantly greater for the chromatic than for the achromatic mechanisms, while the efficiencies are similar. A gain control model of orientation tuning suggests that both chromatic and achromatic mechanisms are characterized by broadly tuned orientation detectors and that the relative chromatic deficit in orientation discrimination may only result from a slightly broader orientation tuning for the chromatic mechanisms. The moderate deficiency in chromatic orientation discrimination may account for the small differences found in shape perception between color and luminance vision.

Spectral sensitivity in eyes with macular holes and their fellow eyes

Background: This prospective study was undertaken to investigate whether spectral sensitivity can be useful in determining the prognosis of fellow eyes of eyes with macular holes. Methods: Spectral sensitivity measurements using a one degree test spot presented at a rate of 1 Hz and 25 Hz on a bright (1000 td) white background were carried out on 10 patients aged between 67 and 74 years (mean age 70.3 ± 2.6 years). Each patient had a full thickness macular hole in one eye and a normal contralateral fellow eye. The spectral sensitivity measurements were made with eccentric fixation in the eyes with macular holes and with central fixation in the normal fellow eye. A year later, the patient files were reviewed to look at the patient's ocular condition. Another 10 subjects between the ages of 50 and 80 years (mean age 69.5 ± 4.2 years) were also seen. These control group subjects had visual acuities of 6/9 or better with minimal ocular media changes and no ocular or systemic pathology that could affect colour vision. Results: The 1 Hz and 25 Hz spectral sensitivities of all patients were reduced for both eyes. Despite the good eye without a macular hole having a VA of 6/6, the spectral sensitivity was similar to that of the eye with the macular hole and markedly reduced visual acuity. Conclusion: The present investigation enabled us to examine the chromatic and achromatic mechanisms by testing spectral sensitivity at 1 Hz and 25 Hz, respectively. The data revealed that both chromatic and achromatic processing could be damaged in the eye with a macular hole. Surprisingly, the spectral sensitivities of both 1 Hz and 25 Hz are equally reduced in the good fellow eye with no macular hole. A one‐year follow‐up showed that two of the 10 patients (20 per cent) did eventually develop a macular hole in the normal fellow eye. This indicates that there is some subclinical foveal dysfunction in the normal fellow eye, the nature of which is unclear.

Chromatic and achromatic loss of sensitivity in glaucoma

Purpose: Loss of both chromatic and achromatic sensitivity in glaucoma has been shown, however, the relative loss is unknown. We aim to quantify and establish which of these systems is affected most in glaucoma.Methods: Earlier experiments have shown that thresholds for detection of coherent motion of colour‐defined, spatially structured stimuli are not affected by dynamic luminance contrast noise. We used these results to design stimuli conditions that isolate chromatic and achromatic mechanisms. We studied 13 subjects with Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) with mean age of 70 years, 17 control subjects with a mean age of 68 years and 13 young normal subjects with a mean age of 31 years. Contrast thresholds were measured using a 4‐alternative, forced‐choice procedure involving discrimination of motion direction. Achromatic and chromatic sensitivities were measured, the latter along the tritan and protan confusion axes, foveally and at 8° eccentricity.Results: There were statistically significant differences between the three subject groups. Comparison of the control and POAG groups revealed a loss of sensitivity in the POAG group. Achromatic sensitivity thresholds increased 1.4‐fold (both at the fovea and at 8°), whereas chromatic thresholds increased 1.8‐ (B/Y) and 1.5‐fold (R/G) at the fovea and 2.0‐ (B/Y) and 1.6‐fold (R/G) at 8°. Comparison of the control and young groups reflected the ageing effects. Achromatic sensitivity showed 1.5‐fold reduction (both fovea and 8°), but the chromatic loss was more severe: 3.5‐ (B/Y) and 3.0‐fold (R/G) at the fovea, and 3.6‐ (B/Y) and 3.2‐fold (R/G) at 8°.Conclusions: The results confirm that the B/Y channel is most affected in glaucoma, but both chromatic and achromatic mechanisms are affected by ageing and glaucoma.

The WEBT BL Lacertae Campaign 2000

We present UBVRI light curves of BL Lacertae from May 2000 to January 2001, obtained by 24 telescopes in 11 countries. More than 15000 observations were performed in that period, which was the extension of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) campaign originally planned for July-August 2000. Rapid flux oscillations are present all the time, involving variations up to a few tenths of mag on hour time scales, and witnessing an intense intraday activity of this source. Colour indexes have been derived by coupling the highest precision B and R data taken by the same instrument within 20 min and after subtracting the host galaxy contribution from the fluxes. The 620 indexes obtained show that the optical spectrum is weakly sensitive to the long-term trend, while it strictly follows the short-term flux behaviour, becoming bluer when the brightness increases. Thus, spectral changes are not related to the host galaxy contribution, but they are an intrinsic feature of fast flares. We suggest that the achromatic mechanism causing the long-term flux base-level modulation can be envisaged in a variation of the relativistic Doppler beaming factor, and that this variation is likely due to a change of the viewing angle. Discrete correlation function (DCF) analysis reveals the existence of a characteristic time scale of variability of about 7 h in the light curve of the core WEBT campaign, while no measurable time delay between variations in the B and R bands is found.

Modelling interactions between chromatic and achromatic stereopsis mechanisms

Modelling interactions between chromatic and achromatic stereopsis mechanisms

Processing time of contour integration: the role of colour, contrast, and curvature.

We investigated the temporal properties of the red - green, blue-yellow, and luminance mechanisms in a contour-integration task which required the linking of orientation across space to detect a 'path'. Reaction times were obtained for simple detection of the stimulus regardless of the presence of a path, and for path detection measured by a yes/no procedure with path and no-path stimuli randomly presented. Additional processing times for contour integration were calculated as the difference between reaction times for simple stimulus detection and path detection, and were measured as a function of stimulus contrast for straight and curved paths. We found that processing time shows effects not apparent in choice reaction-time measurements. (i) Processing time for curved paths is longer than for straight paths. (ii) For straight paths, the achromatic mechanism is faster than the two chromatic ones, with no difference between the red-green and blue-yellow mechanisms. For curved paths there is no difference in processing time between mechanisms. (iii) The extra processing time required to detect curved compared to straight paths is longest for the achromatic mechanism, and similar for the red - green and blue-yellow mechanisms. (iv) Detection of the absence of a path requires at least 50 ms of additional time independently of chromaticity, contrast, and path curvature. The significance of these differences and similarities between postreceptoral mechanisms is discussed.

Chromatic and achromatic defects in patients with progressing glaucoma

To evaluate the pattern of losses associated with glaucomatous injury in patients with progressing glaucoma, functional losses were examined in 14 patients with progressing glaucoma using tests for which detection should be selectively mediated by one of three psychophysical mechanisms. Red-on-white increments, blue-on-white increments and critical flicker frequency were used to isolate the responses of the red–green chromatic mechanism, the blue-on chromatic mechanism, and the high-frequency flicker achromatic mechanism. For our 3.1° circular stimuli, chromatic defects were found in a greater number of the patients with glaucoma than were achromatic defects. We evaluated these defects in terms of two existing hypotheses: preferential loss and reduced redundancy. The greater sensitivity to glaucomatous injury of chromatic tests, compared to achromatic tests, found in this and other studies and the apparent discrepancy between anatomical and psychophysical studies can be parsimoniously explained by differences in cortical summation of ganglion cell responses for the chromatic and achromatic pathways.

Interaction of visual and olfactory cues in the aggregation behaviour of the haematophagous bug Triatoma infestans.

We analysed how the assembling behaviour of Triatoma infestans is modulated by the convergence of chemical cues released by their faeces and the spectral quality of the light associated with refuges. Second-instar larvae were confronted with refuges associated with a visual stimulus (either blue, green or red lights having the same intensity, or darkness) and a chemical cue (presence or absence of faeces). In this context, faeces constitute a major attractant for bugs. In the absence of faeces, bugs always assembled in dark places. Green light was always rejected despite the presence of faeces, i.e. the assembling behaviour was controlled by a photonegative reaction to this light. In the presence of red light, orientation towards the chemical cue dominated over the bugs' photonegative reaction to this light. Such a light was avoided in the absence of faeces but not in their presence. Also, negative phototaxis to blue light could be counteracted by the presence of the chemical cue. Thus, a concrete interaction between visual and olfactory cues occurred in these experiments: the bugs' response changed depending on the specific combination of spectral light and faeces. Finally, bugs responded differentially to blue, red and green lights of the same intensity. They assembled preferentially on red, followed by blue and then by green. Thus, discrimination between lights of different spectral quality is possible, probably through an achromatic mechanism.

Pulse‐duration threshold functions obtained at the MWS/LWS cone antagonistic locus

Pulse-duration threshold functions were determined for spectral increments in the region of the Sloan notch (580 nm) as well as for 440 and 640 nm and white increments flashed on a spatially coincident white background. While increments of 440 and 640 nm elicited traditional pulse-duration functions with decreasing thresholds as the duration increased, functions obtained with 580 nm and white increments manifested a minima at about 50 ms. These data support the notion that stimuli in the region of Sloan's notch can be detected by an achromatic mechanism that may integrate sub-threshold ON and OFF responses, thereby maximizing detection sensitivity.

The achromatic mechanism and mechanisms tuned to chromaticity and luminance in visual search.

The purpose of the study was to determine whether visual search can be mediated by an achromatic, or luminance, mechanism in which signals are independent of the chromaticity of the stimuli. Experiments were designed to determine whether variability in the chromaticity of distractor stimuli made it more difficult to search for a target that differed from the distractor stimuli in luminance. Variability in the chromaticity of the distractors had little or no effect on search times when the target stimulus was white. Variability in the chromaticity of the distractors increased search times when the target was a reddish or bluish chromaticity. Results obtained with white targets suggest that these searches are mediated by an achromatic mechanism in which the signals are independent of the chromaticity of the stimuli. Results obtained with reddish and bluish targets suggest that searches for those targets may be mediated by mechanisms tuned to both chromaticity and luminance. Further experiments in which observers searched for targets that differed from distractors in both chromaticity and luminance provided additional support for the second conclusion.

The detection and recognition of flower colours by honeybees: chromatic and achromatic mechanisms

The detection and recognition of flower colours by honeybees: chromatic and achromatic mechanisms

Failure of direction discrimination at detection threshold for both fast and slow chromatic motion

Separate pathways have recently been proposed for “fast” and “slow” motion, whose properties differ in the way that color contrast is processed [see Nature (London)367, 268 (1994); Trends Neurosci.19, 394 (1996); and Vision Res.36, 1281 (1996) and Vision Res.35, 1547 (1995)]. One reported difference is that for slow motion the direction of chromatic stimuli cannot be determined at detection threshold, whereas at higher temporal rates detection and direction discrimination threshold coincide. Using a carefully designed psychophysical procedure, we measured simultaneously the thresholds for detection, direction discrimination, and color identification for isoluminant red–green and achromatic Gabor patches (1.5 cpd), over the range of visible temporal frequencies (1–16 Hz). We find that the color of both the red–green and the achromatic targets can be identified at detection threshold, indicating effective isolation of the luminance and the red–green mechanisms at all stimulus speeds. For the achromatic mechanism, direction discrimination was always possible at detection threshold. For the red–green mechanism, we find that direction discrimination thresholds are significantly greater than detection thresholds at all stimulus speeds. This result calls into question models of chromatic motion processing that are dichotomized along the lines of stimulus speed.

Isolation of chromatic and achromatic mechanisms: A new approach

The purpose of this study was to optimise the testing paradigm for isolating the contributions of chromatic and achromatic mechanisms to the human spectral sensitivity function. Spectral sensitivity was determined for a test spot size of 1.2 deg presented with various spatial and temporal masks on a large, 10 deg background field of moderate intensity (1000td) and colour temperature, CT = 2700 K. Sinusoidal temporal presentation (1 Hz) and a masking annulus of between 3 and 10 min of arc surrounding the test spot, was found to be most effective in separating chromatic from achromatic mechanisms. Square-wave (1 Hz) temporal presentation combined with the annulus was slightly less selective. The presence of the annulus did not affect the shape of flicker detection at 25 Hz which is a measure of the luminosity (achromatic) spectral sensitivity function.

Isolation of chromatic and achromatic mechanisms: A new approach

SummaryThe purpose of this study was to optimise the testing paradigm for isolating the contributions of chromatic and achromatic mechanisms to the human spectral sensitivity function. Spectral sensitivity was determined for a test spot size of 1.2 deg presented with various spatial and temporal masks on a large, 10 deg background field of moderate intensity (1000 td) and colour temperature, CT = 2700 K. Sinusoidal temporal presentation (1 Hz) and a masking annulus of between 3 and 10 min of arc surrounding the test spot, was found to be most effective in separating chromatic from achromatic mechanisms. Square‐wave (1 Hz) temporal presentation combined with the annulus was slightly less selective. The presence of the annulus did not affect the shape of flicker detection at 25 Hz which is a measure of the luminosity (achromatic) spectral sensitivity function.

Postreceptoral chromatic detection mechanisms revealed by noise masking in three-dimensional cone contrast space.

We used a noise masking technique to test the hypothesis that detection is subserved by only two chromatic postreceptoral mechanisms (red-green and blue-yellow) and one achromatic (luminance) mechanism. The task was to detect a 1-c/deg Gaussian enveloped grating presented in a mask of static, spatially low-passed binary or Gaussian distributed noise. In the main experiment, the direction of the test stimulus (termed the signal) was constant in cone contrast space, and the direction of the noise was sampled in equally spaced directions within a plane (the noise plane) in the space. The signal was chosen to coincide with one of the three cardinal directions of three postulated mechanisms. The noise plane was selected to span two of the cardinal directions, including that chosen as the signal direction. As the noise direction was sampled around the noise plane, the signal detection threshold was found to vary in accordance with a linear cosine model, which predicted noise directions yielding maximum and minimum masking of the signal. In the direction of minimum masking (termed a null direction), the noise was found to have no masking effect on the signal. Moreover, the null was not orthogonal to the signal direction but lay instead in one of the cardinal directions. Our findings suggest that detection is mediated by only three mechanisms. In a further experiment we found little or no cross masking between each pair of cardinal directions up to the limit of our noise mask contrasts. This further supports the presence of no more than three independent postreceptoral mechanisms.

Orientation tuning of the spatial-frequency-tuned mechanisms of the red-green channel.

Significant orthogonal masking for color stimuli [Invest. Ophthalmol. Visual Sci. 34, 782 (No. 405-54) (1993)] but not for achromatic stimuli [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 1, 226 (1984)] under sustained presentation led us to investigate the orientation tuning of the spatial-frequency- (SF-) tuned color mechanisms. The Red-Green channel was isolated from the achromatic channel by the minimum flicker technique and from the Yellow-Blue channel by the hue cancellation technique. Contrast sensitivity functions, threshold elevation versus mask orientation curves (measured by orientation masking), and threshold elevation versus mask contrast curves were measured by the method of constant stimuli and a two-interval forced-choice technique on two normal observers. Test targets were spatially localized (D6), vertical color patterns, and masks were sinusoidal color patterns oriented 15 degrees-90 degrees from the vertical in 15 degrees steps and had the same SF's as those of test patterns. Mask contrasts were varied between 1.2% and 60%. The orientation tuning curves of the SF-tuned color mechanisms were extracted by obtaining the best fit to contrast sensitivity and threshold elevation data simultaneously at a given SF with use of the masking model. Results show that threshold elevations depend on test SF, mask SF, mask orientation, and mask contrast. Half-bandwidths at half-height (with respect to 15 degrees from the vertical) of threshold elevation versus mask orientation curves range from 90 degrees to 29 degrees depending on SF's. The slopes of threshold elevation versus mask contrast curves range from 0.76 to 0.29 on octave-octave coordinates depending on SF's. Orientation half-bandwidths at half-height of orientation tuning curves of the SF-tuned color mechanisms (1) range from 79 degrees to 28 degrees and (2) average from 68 degrees to 30 degrees for SF's 0.063-8 cycles per degree (cpd). Data suggest that the orientation tuning curves of the SF-tuned chromatic mechanisms are broader (except at 2 cpd) than those of the achromatic mechanisms (orientation half-bandwidths: 32 degrees-15 degrees for 0.5-11.3 cpd [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 1, 226 (1984)]); moreover, the orientation bandwidths are SF dependent.