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AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank)2. REPORT DATE 23.Sep.02
REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED
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TITLE AND SUBTITLE
COLOR VISION SENSITIVITY IN NORMALLY DICHROMATIC SPECIES AND HUMANS
AUTHOR(S)LT COL VAN ARSDEL RICHARD E
FUNDING NUMBERS
PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM Spectral sensitivity functions for large, long-duration spectral stimuli presented on a photopic white background indicate that wavelength opponent mechanisms mediate detection of such stimuli in both normal and dichromatic humans. Normal humans detect the color of spectral flashes at detection threshold intensities, supporting the premise that wavelength opponent processes signal color. However, dichromatic humans do not see some colors at threshold; rather, they require stimuli up to about 0.4 log units above detection intensity. This suggests that dichromatic humans may have a defect in postreceptoral color processing. To test this, we determined color discrimination thresholds in normally occurring dichromats, including the chipmunk, the 13-lined ground squirrel, and the tree shrew.Animals were trained with food to perform spatial two-choice discrimination tasks. Detection thresholds were first determined for white, 460-nm, 540-nm, 560-nm, 580-nm, 500-nm long-pass, and 500-nm short-pass increments on white backgrounds of 1.25 cd/m 2 ,46 cd/m 2 , and 130 cd/m 2 . Animals were then trained to respond to the colored increments when paired with the white when both were at an intensity of 0.5 log units above each animal's detection threshold. Color discrimination thresholds were then determined by dimming stimulus pairs (colored vs. white) until the subjects could no longer make the discriminations.u Data indicate that the normally dichromatic species discriminated the color from the white stimuli at a mean intensity of 0.1 (±0.1) log units above detection threshold in photopic conditions. The ability of normally dichromatic species to discriminate color near detection threshold intensity is consistent with increment spectral sensitivity functions that indicate detection by wavelength opponent mechanisms. This high color sensitivity of normal dichromats suggests that the low color vision sensitivity of dichromatic humans is an abnormal condition and indicates a possible defect in postreceptoral processing, but the...