Cardinal axes are not independent in color discrimination

Cone-Opponent Ganglion Cells in the Primate Fovea Tuned to Non-Cardinal Color Directions

A long-standing question in vision science is how the three cone photoreceptor types - long (L), medium (M) and short (S) wavelength sensitive - combine to generate our perception of color. Hue perception can be described along two opponent axes: red-green and blue-yellow. Psychophysical measurements of color appearance indicate that the cone inputs to the red-green and blue-yellow opponent axes are M vs. L+S and L vs. M+S, respectively. However, the "cardinal directions of color space" revealed by psychophysical measurements of color detection thresholds are L vs. M and S vs. L+M. The cardinal directions match the most common cone-opponent retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the primate retina. Accordingly, the cone opponency necessary for color appearance is thought to be established in cortex. However, small populations with the appropriate M vs. L+S and L vs. M+S cone-opponency have been reported in large surveys of cone inputs to primate RGCs and their projections to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) yet their existence continues to be debated. Resolving this long-standing open question is needed as a complete account of the cone-opponency in the retinal output is critical for efforts to understand how downstream neural circuits process color. Here, we performed adaptive optics calcium imaging to longitudinally and noninvasively measurements of the foveal RGC light responses in the living macaque eye. We confirm the presence of L vs. M+S and M vs. L+S neurons with non-cardinal cone-opponency and demonstrate that cone-opponent signals in the retinal output are substantially more diverse than classically thought.

Comparative connectomics reveals noncanonical wiring for color vision in human foveal retina

The Old World macaque monkey and New World common marmoset provide fundamental models for human visual processing, yet the human ancestral lineage diverged from these monkey lineages over 25 Mya. We therefore asked whether fine-scale synaptic wiring in the nervous system is preserved across these three primate families, despite long periods of independent evolution. We applied connectomic electron microscopy to the specialized foveal retina where circuits for highest acuity and color vision reside. Synaptic motifs arising from the cone photoreceptor type sensitive to short (S) wavelengths and associated with "blue-yellow" (S-ON and S-OFF) color-coding circuitry were reconstructed. We found that distinctive circuitry arises from S cones for each of the three species. The S cones contacted neighboring L and M (long- and middle-wavelength sensitive) cones in humans, but such contacts were rare or absent in macaques and marmosets. We discovered a major S-OFF pathway in the human retina and established its absence in marmosets. Further, the S-ON and S-OFF chromatic pathways make excitatory-type synaptic contacts with L and M cone types in humans, but not in macaques or marmosets. Our results predict that early-stage chromatic signals are distinct in the human retina and imply that solving the human connectome at the nanoscale level of synaptic wiring will be critical for fully understanding the neural basis of human color vision.

Color Compensatory Mechanism of Chromatic Adaptation at the Cortical Level

Reportedly, some chromatic adaptations have extremely short temporal properties, while others have rather long ones. We aimed to dynamically measure the transition of a neutral point as an aftereffect during chromatic adaptation to understand the temporal characteristics of chromatic adaptation. The peripheral retina was exposed to a yellow light to progress color adaptation, while the transition of a neutral point was measured at the fovea. In Experiment 1, the aftereffect had initially progressed but subsequently recovered despite ongoing chromatic adaptation and regardless of the retinal exposure size, suggesting that the adaptation mechanism at the cortical level continues to readjust the color appearance based on daylight conditions. Experiment 2 was similar to Experiment 1, except that it included participants of varying ages. Older eyes behaved in a homologous manner with younger eyes in Experiment 2, albeit quantitative differences. Regardless of age, similar recalibration of neutral points shifted by color adaptation suggests the color compensation function in older eyes may not change due to long-term chromatic adaptation by optical yellowing. In conclusion, the chromatic adaptation mechanism at the cortical level readjusts color perception, even in younger eyes, according to the daylight neutral point. This daylight information may be stored in the neural mechanism of color vision.

Chromatic discriminations along two cardinal axes share a common attentional resource

Attentional modulation is specific to either luminance or chromatic contrast discrimination, implying separate attentional resources for processing luminance and chromatic information processing [e.g., Curr. Biol.12, 1134 (2002)CUBLE20960-982210.1016/S0960-9822(02)00921-1]. However, there are two distinct visual pathways that process chromatic information: the parvocellular (PC) and koniocellular (KC) pathways. It is unclear whether there are separate attentional resources modulating the chromatic processes in these pathways. Here, we examined the attentional modulation effects on chromatic contrast discrimination with chromaticities along the $l$l or $s$s cardinal axis on a cone chromaticity space for preferentially stimulating either the inferred PC or KC pathway, respectively. A dual-task interference paradigm was used, and chromatic contrast discrimination sensitivities under dual-task conditions were compared with that under a single-task condition. The results revealed that compared with the single-task condition, attending to a competing central task in the dual-task condition decreased the peripheral discrimination sensitivity in both chromatic cardinal axes, and sensitivity reduced regardless of whether the dual tasks were along the same or different chromatic cardinal axes. These findings indicate that attentional effects on chromatic processes are not specific to the cardinal axis, suggesting that the PC and KC pathways may share a common attention resource in modulating chromatic processing.

Discrimination of hue angle and discrimination of colorimetric purity assessed with a common metric

It has been suggested that thresholds for discriminating colorimetric purity are systematically higher than those for discriminating hue angle, a difference captured in Judd's phrase "the super-importance of hue." However, to compare the two types of discrimination, the measured thresholds must be expressed in the same units. An attractive test is offered by measurements along the horizontal lines in the chromaticity diagram of MacLeod and Boynton [ J. Opt. Soc. Am.69, 1183 (1979)JOSAAH0030-394110.1364/JOSA.69.001183], i.e., a chromaticity diagram. A horizontal line that extends radially from the white point represents a variation in colorimetric purity alone (and subjectively a variation that is primarily in saturation). In contrast, a horizontal line that runs along the $x$x axis of the diagram, close to the long-wave spectrum locus, corresponds predominantly to variation in hue angle. Yet, in both cases, only the ratio of the excitations of the long- and middle-wave cones is being modulated, and so the thresholds can be expressed in a common metric. Measuring forced-choice thresholds for 180 ms foveal targets presented on a steady field metameric to Illuminant D65, we do not find general support for Judd's working rule that thresholds for purity are systematically twice those for saturation. Thresholds for colorimetric purity were only a little higher than those for hue angle, and the advantage for hue was seen in only part of the ranges that were tested. However, in the upper-left quadrant of the MacLeod-Boynton diagram, where the excitation of short-wave cones is high and where both hue angle and colorimetric purity vary along any given horizontal line, thresholds were indeed sometimes half those observed for discrimination of purity alone.

Connectomic Identification and Three-Dimensional Color Tuning of S-OFF Midget Ganglion Cells in the Primate Retina

In the trichromatic primate retina, the "midget" retinal ganglion cell is the classical substrate for red-green color signaling, with a circuitry that enables antagonistic responses between long (L)- and medium (M)-wavelength-sensitive cone inputs. Previous physiological studies showed that some OFF midget ganglion cells may receive sparse input from short (S)-wavelength-sensitive cones, but the effect of S-cone inputs on the chromatic tuning properties of such cells has not been explored. Moreover, anatomical evidence for a synaptic pathway from S cones to OFF midget ganglion cells through OFF midget bipolar cells remains ambiguous. In this study, we address both questions for the macaque monkey retina. First, we used serial block-face electron microscopy to show that every S cone in the parafoveal retina synapses principally with a single OFF midget bipolar cell, which in turn forms a private-line connection with an OFF midget ganglion cell. Second, we used patch electrophysiology to characterize the chromatic tuning of OFF midget ganglion cells in the near peripheral retina that receive combined input from L, M, and S cones. These "S-OFF" midget cells have a characteristic S-cone spatial signature, but demonstrate heterogeneous color properties due to the variable strength of L, M, and S cone input across the receptive field. Together, these findings strongly support the hypothesis that the OFF midget pathway is the major conduit for S-OFF signals in primate retina and redefines the pathway as a chromatically complex substrate that encodes color signals beyond the classically recognized L versus M and S versus L+M cardinal mechanisms.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The first step of color processing in the visual pathway of primates occurs when signals from short (S)-, middle (M)-, and long (L)-wavelength-sensitive cone types interact antagonistically within the retinal circuitry to create color-opponent pathways. The midget (L versus M or "red-green") and small bistratified (S vs L+M, or "blue-yellow") ganglion cell pathways appear to provide the physiological origin of the cardinal axes of human color vision. Here we confirm the presence of an additional S-OFF midget circuit in the macaque monkey fovea with scanning block-face electron microscopy and show physiologically that a subpopulation of S-OFF midget cells combine S, L, and M cone inputs along noncardinal directions of color space, expanding the retinal role in color coding.

Circuitry to explain how the relative number of L and M cones shapes color experience

The wavelength of light that appears unique yellow is surprisingly consistent across people even though the ratio of middle (M) to long (L) wavelength sensitive cones is strikingly variable. This observation has been explained by normalization to the mean spectral distribution of our shared environment. Our purpose was to reconcile the nearly perfect alignment of everyone's unique yellow through a normalization process with the striking variability in unique green, which varies by as much as 60 nm between individuals. The spectral location of unique green was measured in a group of volunteers whose cone ratios were estimated with a technique that combined genetics and flicker photometric electroretinograms. In contrast to unique yellow, unique green was highly dependent upon relative cone numerosity. We hypothesized that the difference in neural architecture of the blue-yellow and red-green opponent systems in the presence of a normalization process creates the surprising dependence of unique green on cone ratio. We then compared the predictions of different theories of color vision processing that incorporate L and M cone ratio and a normalization process. The results of this analysis reveal that—contrary to prevailing notions--postretinal contributions may not be required to explain the phenomena of unique hues.

Speed and the coherence of superimposed chromatic gratings

On the basis of measurements of the perceived coherence of superimposed drifting gratings, Krauskopf and Farell (1990) proposed that motion is analysed independently in different chromatic channels. They found that two gratings appeared to slip if each modulated one of the two 'cardinal' color mechanisms S/(L+M) and L/(L+M). If the gratings were defined along intermediate color directions, observers reported a plaid, moving coherently. We hypothesised that slippage might occur in chromatic gratings if the motion signal from the S/(L+M) channel is weak and equivalent to a lower speed. We asked observers to judge coherence in two conditions. In one, S/(L+M) and L/(L+M) gratings were physically the same speed. In the other, the two gratings had perceptually matched speeds. We found that the relative incoherence of cardinal gratings is the same whether gratings are physically or perceptually matched in speed. Thus our hypothesis was firmly contradicted. In a control condition, observers were asked to judge the coherence of stationary gratings. Interestingly, the difference in judged coherence between cardinal and intermediate gratings remained as strong as it was when the gratings moved. Our results suggest a possible alternative interpretation of Krauskopf and Farell's result: the processes of object segregation may precede the analysis of the motion of chromatic gratings, and the same grouping signals may prompt object segregation in the stationary and moving cases.

Is discrimination enhanced at a category boundary? The case of unique red

Is chromatic discrimination enhanced at the boundary between different hues? In previous studies, we gave a positive answer for the case of the locus of unique blues and yellows, the boundary that divides color space into reddish and greenish hues. But we did not find enhancement at the locus of unique green, the boundary between yellowish and bluish hues. In the present study, we examined discrimination near the locus of unique red. In interleaved experimental runs, we obtained (1) discrimination thresholds using a four-alternative spatial forced choice and (2) phenomenological judgments of the locus of unique red. When measurements were made along lines parallel to the locus of unique blues and yellows in a MacLeod-Boynton diagram, the locus of minimal thresholds coincided approximately with the locus of unique red; however, this was not the case when measurements were made along lines orthogonal to the locus of unique blues and yellows. To account for these and earlier results, we suppose that the neural channel that determines the discrimination threshold will sometimes coincide with the channel that determines the perceptual hue equilibrium and sometimes will not. If a given point in chromaticity space is a unique hue, then it is expected to remain a unique hue independently of the direction in which measurements are made; however, discrimination thresholds almost certainly will depend on different underlying channels when measurements are made in different directions through the same point in chromaticity space.

S-cone psychophysics

We review the features of the S-cone system that appeal to the psychophysicist and summarize the celebrated characteristics of S-cone mediated vision. Two factors are emphasized: First, the fine stimulus control that is required to isolate putative visual mechanisms and second, the relationship between physiological data and psychophysical approaches. We review convergent findings from physiology and psychophysics with respect to asymmetries in the retinal wiring of S-ON and S-OFF visual pathways, and the associated treatment of increments and decrements in the S-cone system. Beyond the retina, we consider the lack of S-cone projections to superior colliculus and the use of S-cone stimuli in experimental psychology, for example to address questions about the mechanisms of visually driven attention. Careful selection of stimulus parameters enables psychophysicists to produce entirely reversible, temporary, "lesions," and to assess behavior in the absence of specific neural subsystems.

What is white?

To shed light on the perceptual basis of the color white, we measured settings of unique white in a dark surround. We find that settings reliably show more variability in an oblique (blue-yellow) direction in color space than along the cardinal axes of the cone-opponent mechanisms. This is against the idea that white perception arises at the null point of the cone-opponent mechanisms, but one alternative possibility is that it occurs through calibration to the visual environment. We found that the locus of maximum variability in settings lies close to the locus of natural daylights, suggesting that variability may result from uncertainty about the color of the illuminant. We tested this by manipulating uncertainty. First, we altered the extent to which the task was absolute (requiring knowledge of the illumination) or relative. We found no clear effect of this factor on the reduction in sensitivity in the blue-yellow direction. Second, we provided a white surround as a cue to the illumination or left the surround dark. Sensitivity was selectively worse in the blue-yellow direction when the surround was black than when it was white. Our results can be functionally related to the statistics of natural images, where a greater blue-yellow dispersion is characteristic of both reflectances (where anisotropy is weak) and illuminants (where it is very pronounced). Mechanistically, the results could suggest a neural signal responsive to deviations from the blue-yellow locus or an adaptively matched range of contrast response functions for signals that encode different directions in color space.

Symmetries and asymmetries in chromatic discrimination

Under conditions of adaptation to a steady neutral field (metameric to Daylight Illuminant D65), forced-choice thresholds for color discrimination were measured for brief targets presented to the human fovea. Measurements were made along +45° and -45° lines in a MacLeod-Boynton chromaticity space scaled so that the locus of unique yellow and unique blue lay at -45°. The lines were symmetrical relative to the tritan line passing through the chromaticity of D65. Thresholds increased with distance of the probe chromaticity from D65. Thresholds were higher for saturation discrimination than for hue discrimination. A region of enhanced discrimination was found for thresholds measured orthogonally to the locus of unique blue and unique yellow. There may be an analogous enhancement near the loci of unique red and unique green.

S-cone discrimination in the presence of two adapting fields: data and model

This study investigated S-cone discrimination using a test annulus surrounded by an inner and outer adapting field with systematic manipulation of the adapting l=L/(L+M) or s=S/(L+M) chromaticities. The results showed that different adapting l chromaticities altered S-cone discrimination for a high adapting s chromaticity due to parvocellular input to the koniocellular pathway. In addition, S-cone discrimination was determined by the combined spectral signals arising from both adapting fields. The "white" adapting field or an adapting field with a different l chromaticity from the other fields was more likely to have a stronger influence on discrimination thresholds. These results indicated that the two cardinal axes are not independent in S-cone discrimination, and the two adapting fields jointly contribute to S-cone discrimination through a cortical summation mechanism.

Empirical evidence for unique hues?

Red, green, blue, yellow, and white have been distinguished from other hues as unique. We present results from two experiments that undermine existing behavioral evidence to separate the unique hues from other colors. In Experiment 1 we used hue scaling, which has often been used to support the existence of unique hues, but has never been attempted with a set of non-unique primaries. Subjects were assigned to one of two experimental conditions. In the "unique" condition, they rated the proportions of red, yellow, blue, and green that they perceived in each of a series of test stimuli. In the "intermediate" condition, they rated the proportions of teal, purple, orange, and lime. We found, surprisingly, that results from the two conditions were largely equivalent. In Experiment 2, we investigated the effect of instruction on subjects' settings of unique hues. We found that altering the color terms given in the instructions to include intermediate hues led to significant shifts in the hue that subjects identified as unique. The results of both experiments question subjects' abilities to identify certain hues as unique.

Contrast magnitude and polarity effects on color filling-in along cardinal color axes

Color filling-in is the phenomenon in which the color of a visual area is perceived as the color that is only presented in an adjacent area. In a stimulus with multiple edges, color filling-in can occur along any edge and in both centripetal and centrifugal directions when maintaining steady fixation. The current study aimed to investigate the role of chromatic contrast magnitude and polarity along the two chromaticity cardinal axes and the interaction of the axes in the color filling-in process. In Experiment 1, the color filling-in process was examined using stimuli with three different regions and two edges. The three regions had chromaticities that varied only in one of the chromaticity axes. In Experiment 2, the regions along both edges differed in chromaticity along both axes. The results showed that the contrast magnitudes and polarity relationship of the two edges worked together to determine the filled-in direction and time course of the filled-in percepts. Further, the results pointed to a common mechanism mediating the color filling-in process along the two cardinal axes, and the two axes did not act independently in this process.

The categorisation of non-categorical colours: a novel paradigm in colour perception

In this paper, we investigate a new paradigm for studying the development of the colour ‘signal’ by having observers discriminate and categorize the same set of controlled and calibrated cardinal coloured stimuli. Notably, in both tasks, each observer was free to decide whether two pairs of colors were the same or belonged to the same category. The use of the same stimulus set for both tasks provides, we argue, an incremental behavioural measure of colour processing from detection through discrimination to categorisation. The measured data spaces are different for the two tasks, and furthermore the categorisation data is unique to each observer. In addition, we develop a model which assumes that the principal difference between the tasks is the degree of similarity between the stimuli which has different constraints for the categorisation task compared to the discrimination task. This approach not only makes sense of the current (and associated) data but links the processes of discrimination and categorisation in a novel way and, by implication, expands upon the previous research linking categorisation to other tasks not limited to colour perception.

Individual and age-related variation in chromatic contrast adaptation

Precortical color channels are tuned primarily to the LvsM (stimulation of L and M cones varied, but S cone stimulation held constant) or SvsLM (stimulation of S cones varied, but L and M cone stimulation held constant) cone-opponent (cardinal) axes, but appear elaborated in the cortex to form higher-order mechanisms tuned to both cardinal and intermediate directions. One source of evidence for these higher-order mechanisms has been the selectivity of color contrast adaptation for noncardinal directions, yet the degree of this selectivity has varied widely across the small sample of observers tested in previous studies. This study explored the possible bases for this variation, and in particular tested whether it reflected age-related changes in the distribution or tuning of color mechanisms. Observers included 15 younger (18-22 years of age) and 15 older individuals (66-82), who adapted to temporal modulations along one of four chromatic axes (two cardinal and two intermediate axes) and then matched the hue and contrast of test stimuli lying along eight different directions in the equiluminant plane. All observers exhibited aftereffects that were selective for both the cardinal and intermediate directions, although selectivity was weaker for the intermediate axes. The degree of selectivity increased with the magnitude of adaptation for all axes, and thus adaptation strength alone may account for much of the variance in selectivity among observers. Older observers showed a stronger magnitude of adaptation thus, surprisingly, more conspicuous evidence for higher-order mechanisms. For both age groups the aftereffects were well predicted by response changes in chromatic channels with linear spectral sensitivities, and there was no evidence for weakened channel tuning with aging. The results suggest that higher-order mechanisms may become more exposed in observers or conditions in which the strength of adaptation is greater, and that both chromatic contrast adaptation and the cortical color coding it reflects remain largely intact in the aging visual system.