Elsevier

Vision Research

Volume 32, Issue 11, November 1992, Pages 2065-2075
Vision Research

The effects of prolonged temporal modulation on the differential response of color mechanisms

https://doi.org/10.1016/0042-6989(92)90068-TGet rights and content
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The identification of three independent cardinal directions in color space suggests the existence of three independent post-receptoral mechanisms that can be desensitized by habituation to a temporally modulated light. In this paper, the differential response of each cardinal mechanism is estimated over a range of inputs before and after habitation. Simple mathematical considerations show that the threshold elevations following temporal modulation are not consistent with multiplicative gain changes; rather, these elevations require a change in the shape of each cardinal mechanism's response function. With this method, the effects of habituation can also be differentiated from the effects of a change in the steady adapting light.

Keywords

Color vision
Habituation
Adaptation
Sensitivity
Gain control

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