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Marmoy OR, Tekavčič Pompe M, Kremers J. Chromatic visual evoked potentials: A review of physiology, methods and clinical applications. Prog Retin Eye Res 2024; 101:101272. [PMID: 38761874 DOI: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2024.101272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 05/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/20/2024]
Abstract
Objective assessment of the visual system can be performed electrophysiologically using the visual evoked potential (VEP). In many clinical circumstances, this is performed using high contrast achromatic patterns or diffuse flash stimuli. These methods are clinically valuable but they may only assess a subset of possible physiological circuitries within the visual system, particularly those involved in achromatic (luminance) processing. The use of chromatic VEPs (cVEPs) in addition to standard VEPs can inform us of the function or dysfunction of chromatic pathways. The chromatic VEP has been well studied in human health and disease. Yet, to date our knowledge of their underlying mechanisms and applications remains limited. This likely reflects a heterogeneity in the methodology, analysis and conclusions of different works, which leads to ambiguity in their clinical use. This review sought to identify the primary methodologies employed for recording cVEPs. Furthermore cVEP maturation and application in understanding the function of the chromatic system under healthy and diseased conditions are reviewed. We first briefly describe the physiology of normal colour vision, before describing the methodologies and historical developments which have led to our understanding of cVEPs. We thereafter describe the expected maturation of the cVEP, followed by reviewing their application in several disorders: congenital colour vision deficiencies, retinal disease, glaucoma, optic nerve and neurological disorders, diabetes, amblyopia and dyslexia. We finalise the review with recommendations for testing and future directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver R Marmoy
- Clinical and Academic Department of Ophthalmology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK; UCL-GOS Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Manca Tekavčič Pompe
- University Eye Clinic, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Jan Kremers
- Section of Retinal Physiology, University Hospital Erlangen, Germany
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Shapley R, Nunez V, Gordon J. Low luminance contrast's effect on the color appearance of S-cone patterns. Vision Res 2024; 222:108448. [PMID: 38906035 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2024.108448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2024] [Revised: 06/03/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024]
Abstract
There is a surprisingly strong effect on color appearance when low levels of luminance contrast are added to visual targets in which only S-cones are modulated. This phenomenon can be studied with checkerboard patterns composed of alternating S-cone-modulated checks and gray checks. + S checks look purple when surrounded by slightly brighter gray checks but look highly desaturated (lavender, almost white) when surrounded by darker gray checks. -S checks change in hue with luminance contrast; they look yellow when surrounded by darker gray checks but are greener when surrounded by lighter checks. Psychophysical paired comparisons confirm these perceptions. Furthermore, visual evoked potentials (VEPs) recorded from human posterior cortex indicate that signals evoked by low luminance contrast interact nonlinearly with S-cone-evoked signals in early cortical color processing. Our new psychophysics and electrophysiology results prove that human perception of color appearance is not based on neural computations within a separate, isolated color system. Rather, signals evoked by color contrast and luminance contrast interact to produce the colors we see.
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Devinck F, Knoblauch K. Color appearance of spatial patterns compared by direct estimation and conjoint measurement. JOURNAL OF THE OPTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA. A, OPTICS, IMAGE SCIENCE, AND VISION 2023; 40:A99-A106. [PMID: 37133014 DOI: 10.1364/josaa.475040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Perceptual scales of color saturation obtained by direct estimation (DE) and maximum likelihood conjoint measurement (MLCM) were compared for red checkerboard patterns and uniform red squares. For the DE task, observers were asked to rate the saturation level as a percentage, indicating the chromatic sensation for each pattern and contrast. For the MLCM procedure, observers judged on each trial which of two stimuli that varied in chromatic contrast and/or spatial pattern evoked the most salient color. In separate experiments, patterns varying only in luminance contrast were also tested. The MLCM data confirmed previous results reported with DE indicating that the slope of the checkerboard scale with cone contrast levels is steeper than that for the uniform square. Similar results were obtained with patterns modulated only in luminance. DE methods were relatively more variable within an observer, reflecting observer uncertainty, while MLCM scales showed greater relative variability across observers, perhaps reflecting individual differences in the appearance of the stimuli. MLCM provides a reliable scaling method, based only on ordinal judgments between pairs of stimuli and that provides less opportunity for subject-specific biases and strategies to intervene in perceptual judgements.
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Fars J, Fernandes TP, Huchzermeyer C, Kremers J, Paramei GV. Chromatic discrimination measures in mature observers depend on the response window. Sci Rep 2022; 12:9072. [PMID: 35641546 PMCID: PMC9156755 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13129-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Our past anecdotal evidence prompted that a longer response window (RW) in the Trivector test (Cambridge Colour Test) improved mature observers’ estimates of chromatic discrimination. Here, we systematically explored whether RW variation affects chromatic discrimination thresholds measured by the length of Protan, Deutan and Tritan vectors. We employed the Trivector test with three RWs: 3 s, 5 s, and 8 s. Data of 30 healthy normal trichromats were stratified as age groups: ‘young’ (20–29 years), ‘middle-aged’ (31–48 years), and ‘mature’ (57–64 years). We found that for the ‘young’ and ‘middle-aged’, the thresholds were comparable at all tested RWs. However, the RW effect was apparent for the ‘mature’ observers: their Protan and Tritan thresholds decreased at 8-s RW compared to 3-s RW; moreover, their Tritan threshold decreased at 5-s RW compared to 3-s RW. Elevated discrimination thresholds at shorter RWs imply that for accurate performance, older observers require longer stimulus exposure and are indicative of ageing effects manifested by an increase in critical processing duration. Acknowledging low numbers in our ‘middle-aged’ and ‘mature’ samples, we consider our study as pilot. Nonetheless, our findings encourage us to advocate a RW extension in the Trivector protocol for testing mature observers, to ensure veridical measures of their chromatic discrimination by disentangling these from other ageing effects—slowing down of both motor responses and visual processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Fars
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Erlangen, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany.
| | - Thiago P Fernandes
- Department of Psychology, Federal University of Paraiba, Cidade Universitaria S/N, Joao Pessoa, 58051-900, Brazil
| | - Cord Huchzermeyer
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Erlangen, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Jan Kremers
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Erlangen, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Galina V Paramei
- Department of Psychology, Liverpool Hope University, Hope Park, Liverpool, L16 9JD, UK.
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Nunez V, Gordon J, Shapley R. Signals from Single-Opponent Cortical Cells in the Human cVEP. J Neurosci 2022; 42:4380-4393. [PMID: 35414533 PMCID: PMC9145233 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0276-22.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2022] [Revised: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 04/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
We used the chromatic visual evoked potential (cVEP) to study responses in human visual cortex evoked by equiluminant color stimuli for 6 male and 11 female observers. Large-area, colored squares were used to stimulate Single-Opponent cells preferentially, and fine color-checkerboard stimuli were used to activate Double-Opponent responses preferentially. Stimuli were modulated along the following two directions in color space: (1) the cardinal direction, L-M or M-L of DKL (Derrington, Krauskopf, and Lennie) space; and (2) the line from the white point to the color of the Red LED in the display screen, which was approximately intermediate between the L-M and -S directions in DKL space in cone-contrast coordinates. The amplitudes of cVEPs to large squares were smaller than those to checkerboards, and the latency of the cVEP response to squares was significantly less than the checkerboard latency. The latency of cVEP responses to the squares varied little with cone-contrast unlike the steep reduction of latency with cone-contrast observed in responses to color checkerboard patterns. The dynamic differences between cVEPs to squares and checkerboards support the hypothesis that a distinct neuronal mechanism responded to squares: Single-Opponent cells. Response amplitude, latency, and transientness-and their dependence on cone-contrast-were similar in the responses in the L-M and Red color directions. The similarity supports the hypothesis that the Single-Opponent signals in the cVEP come from a distinct population of cells that receives subtractive inputs from L and M cones, either L-M or M-L.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This article is about characterizing the visual behavior of a distinct population of neurons in the human visual cortex, the Single-Opponent color cells. Based on single-cell results in the visual cortex of macaque monkeys, we used large uniformly colored stimuli to isolate the responses of Single-Opponent cells in the chromatic visual evoked potential (cVEP) recorded on the scalp of human observers. VEP signals recorded under conditions believed to reveal Single-Opponent responses are small and transient. Their time course is relatively unaffected by cone-contrast, and they are relatively insensitive to stimulus modulation of short wavelength-sensitive S cones. Because Single-Opponent cells convey signals that can be used to judge the color of scene illumination, knowing their visual properties is important for understanding color vision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerie Nunez
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003
| | - James Gordon
- Psychology Department, Hunter College, The City University of New York, New York, New York 10065
| | - Robert Shapley
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003
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Stauch BJ, Peter A, Ehrlich I, Nolte Z, Fries P. Human visual gamma for color stimuli. eLife 2022; 11:75897. [PMID: 35532123 PMCID: PMC9122493 DOI: 10.7554/elife.75897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Strong gamma-band oscillations in primate early visual cortex can be induced by homogeneous color surfaces (Peter et al., 2019; Shirhatti and Ray, 2018). Compared to other hues, particularly strong gamma oscillations have been reported for red stimuli. However, precortical color processing and the resultant strength of input to V1 have often not been fully controlled for. Therefore, stronger responses to red might be due to differences in V1 input strength. We presented stimuli that had equal luminance and cone contrast levels in a color coordinate system based on responses of the lateral geniculate nucleus, the main input source for area V1. With these stimuli, we recorded magnetoencephalography in 30 human participants. We found gamma oscillations in early visual cortex which, contrary to previous reports, did not differ between red and green stimuli of equal L-M cone contrast. Notably, blue stimuli with contrast exclusively on the S-cone axis induced very weak gamma responses, as well as smaller event-related fields and poorer change-detection performance. The strength of human color gamma responses for stimuli on the L-M axis could be well explained by L-M cone contrast and did not show a clear red bias when L-M cone contrast was properly equalized.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alina Peter
- Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Isabelle Ehrlich
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Zora Nolte
- Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Pascal Fries
- Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience, Frankfurt, Germany
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