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Electrophysiology of Color Vision

I. Cellular level

  • Conference paper
Colour Vision Deficiencies VII

Part of the book series: Documenta Ophthalmologica Proceedings Series ((DOPS,volume 39))

Abstract

The primary aim of many electrophysiological studies of single cells of the visual system has been the delineation of neurons subserving any one area of visual space with common functional properties. Such classifications are important because they provide a sensible way to functionally reduce to a manageable proportion the number of input and output signals from one region to another. The primate optic nerve, for example, contains some 106 ganglion cell axons which, at any given time, may be active or quiescent. If each ganglion cell were to have properties very different from those of the others, physiological studies would face a hopeless task, as the number of possible combinations of retinal output signals to the more central visual brain is enormous, on the order of 10300,000. Functional classifications are also useful because, depending on their underlying biases and criteria, they allow for (i) the recognition of corresponding neuronal groups at different levels of the system within and across species, and (ii) the formulation of testable inferences and deductions on the visual role(s) of the neurons.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section on Visual Processing, Clinical Branch National Eye Institute, 9/1E 108, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20205, MD, USA

    F. M. de Monasterio

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  1. F. M. de Monasterio
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G. Verriest

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© 1984 Dr W. Junk Publishers The Hague, Boston, Lancaster

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de Monasterio, F.M. (1984). Electrophysiology of Color Vision. In: Verriest, G. (eds) Colour Vision Deficiencies VII. Documenta Ophthalmologica Proceedings Series, vol 39. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6551-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6551-5_3

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