Color perception is mediated by a plastic neural mechanism that is adjustable in adults. Neuron 2002 Aug 15;35(4):783-92
Date
08/27/2002Pubmed ID
12194876DOI
10.1016/s0896-6273(02)00818-8Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0037104643 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 224 CitationsAbstract
An intensely debated issue concerning visual-experience-dependent neural plasticity is whether experience is required only to maintain function or whether information from experience is used actively, relieving the necessity to hard-wire all connections and allowing adaptive adjustments. Here, an active role for experience is demonstrated in circuits for color vision. Chromatic experience was altered using colored filters. Over days there was a shift in color perception, as measured by the wavelength of unique yellow, which persisted 1-2 weeks after the filters were discontinued. Moreover, color-deficient adults were shown to have altered weightings of inputs to chromatic channels, demonstrating a large neural adjustment to their inherited photopigment defect. Thus, a neural normalization mechanism for color perception, determined by visual experience, operates to compensate for large genetic differences in retinal architecture and for changes in chromatic environment.
Author List
Neitz J, Carroll J, Yamauchi Y, Neitz M, Williams DRAuthor
Joseph J. Carroll PhD Director, Professor in the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Adaptation, PhysiologicalAdult
Cell Count
Color Perception
Female
Genetic Variation
Humans
Male
Neuronal Plasticity
Photic Stimulation
Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells
Retinal Pigments
Sex Characteristics
Vision, Ocular
Visual Cortex
Visual Pathways
