Investigating visual mechanisms underlying scene brightness

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
UC Besenecker ◽  
JD Bullough
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Spectral Sensitivity ◽  
Short Wavelength ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Forced Choice ◽  
Light Sources ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Brightness Perception ◽  
Light Levels ◽  
Relative Brightness

Short-wavelength (<500 nm) output of light sources enhances scene brightness perception in the low-to-moderate photopic range. This appears to be partially explained by a contribution from short-wavelength cones. Recent evidence from experiments on humans suggests that intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) containing the photopigment melanopsin might also contribute to spectral sensitivity for scene brightness perception. An experiment was conducted to investigate this possibility at two different light levels, near 10 lx and near 100 lx. Subjects provided forced-choice brightness judgments and relative brightness magnitude judgments when comparing two different amber-coloured stimuli with similar chromaticities. A provisional brightness metric including an ipRGC contribution was able to predict the data with substantially smaller errors than a metric based on cone input only.

Light adaptation in the primate retina: Analysis of changes in gain and dynamics of monkey retinal ganglion cells

1990 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Purpura ◽  
Daniel Tranchina ◽  
Ehud Kaplan ◽  
Robert M. Shapley
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Negative Feedback ◽  
Light Adaptation ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Light Level ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
M Cell ◽  
Feedback Model ◽  
Light Levels

AbstractThe responses of monkey retinal ganglion cells to sinusoidal stimuli of various temporal frequencies were measured and analyzed at a number of mean light levels. Temporal modulation tuning functions (TMTFs) were measured at each mean level by varying the drift rate of a sine-wave grating of fixed spatial frequency and contrast. The changes seen in ganglion cell temporal responses with changes in adaptation state were similar to those observed in human subjects and in turtle horizontal cells and cones tested with sinusoidally flickering stimuli; “Weber's Law” behavior was seen at low temporal frequencies but not at higher temporal frequencies. Temporal responses were analyzed in two ways: (1) at each light level, the TMTFs were fit by a model consisting of a cascade of low- and high-pass filters; (2) the family of TMTFs collected over a range of light levels for a given cell was fit by a linear negative feedback model in which the gain of the feedback was proportional to the mean light level. Analysis (1) revealed that the temporal responses of one class of monkey ganglion cells (M cells) were more phasic at both photopic and mesopic light levels than the responses of P ganglion cells. In analysis (2), the linear negative feedback model accounted reasonably well for changes in gain and dynamics seen in three P cells and one M cell. From the feedback model, it was possible to estimate the light level at which the dark-adapted gain of the cone pathways in the primate retina fell by a factor of two. This value was two to three orders of magnitude lower than the value estimated from recordings of isolated monkey cones. Thus, while a model which includes a single stage of negative feedback can account for the changes in gain and dynamics associated with light adaptation in the photopic and mesopic ranges of vision, the underlying physical mechanisms are unknown and may involve elements in the primate retina other than the cone.

Ganglion cells of a short-wavelength-sensitive cone pathway in New World monkeys: Morphology and physiology

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUIZ CARLOS L. SILVEIRA ◽  
BARRY B. LEE ◽  
ELIZABETH S. YAMADA ◽  
JAN KREMERS ◽  
DAVID M. HUNT ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Short Wavelength ◽  
New World ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Dendritic Tree ◽  
New World Monkeys ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Old World ◽  
Contrast Gain ◽  
Cone Pathway

We have studied the morphology and physiology of retinal ganglion cells of a short-wavelength-sensitive cone (SWS-cone) pathway in dichromatic and trichromatic New World anthropoids, the capuchin monkey (Cebus apella) and tufted-ear marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). In Old World anthropoids, in which males and females are both trichromats, blue-ON/yellow-OFF retinal ganglion cells have excitatory SWS-cone and inhibitory middle- and long-wavelength-sensitive (MWS- and LWS-) cone inputs, and have been anatomically identified as small-field bistratified ganglion cells (SB-cells) (Dacey & Lee, 1994). Among retinal ganglion cells of New World monkeys, we find SB-cells which have very similar morphology to such cells in macaque and human; for example, the inner dendritic tree is larger and denser than the outer dendritic tree. We also find blue-on retinal ganglion cells of the capuchin to have physiological responses strongly resembling such cells of the macaque monkey retina; for example, responses were more sustained, with a gentler low frequency roll-off than MC-cells, and no evidence of contrast gain control. There was no difference between dichromatic and trichromatic individuals. The results support the view that SWS-cone pathways are similarly organized in New and Old World primates, consistent with the hypothesis that these pathways form a phylogenetically ancient color system.

scholarly journals A simple retinal mechanism contributes to perceptual interactions between rod- and cone-mediated responses in primates

eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
William N Grimes ◽  
Logan R Graves ◽  
Mathew T Summers ◽  
Fred Rieke
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Nonlinear Interactions ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Linear Summation ◽  
Perceptual Asymmetry ◽  
Parallel Pathways ◽  
Light Levels ◽  
Circuit Output ◽  
Rod And Cone Photoreceptors

Visual perception across a broad range of light levels is shaped by interactions between rod- and cone-mediated signals. Because responses of retinal ganglion cells, the output cells of the retina, depend on signals from both rod and cone photoreceptors, interactions occurring in retinal circuits provide an opportunity to link the mechanistic operation of parallel pathways and perception. Here we show that rod- and cone-mediated responses interact nonlinearly to control the responses of primate retinal ganglion cells; these nonlinear interactions, surprisingly, were asymmetric, with rod responses strongly suppressing subsequent cone responses but not vice-versa. Human psychophysical experiments revealed a similar perceptual asymmetry. Nonlinear interactions in the retinal output cells were well-predicted by linear summation of kinetically-distinct rod- and cone-mediated signals followed by a synaptic nonlinearity. These experiments thus reveal how a simple mechanism controlling interactions between parallel pathways shapes circuit output and perception.

scholarly journals Beyond colour gamuts: Novel metrics for the reproduction of photoreceptor signals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allie C. Hexley ◽  
Takuma Morimoto ◽  
Hannah E. Smithson ◽  
Manuel Spitschan
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Chromaticity Diagram ◽  
Colour Space ◽  
Light Responses ◽  
Light Levels ◽  
Primary Display ◽  
Visual Light

AbstractColour gamuts describe the chromaticity reproduction capabilities of a display, i.e. its ability to reproduce the relative cone excitations from real-world radiance spectra. While the cones dominate “canonical” visual function (i.e. perception of colour, space, and motion) under photopic light levels, they are not the only photoreceptors in the human retina. Rods and melanopsin-containing intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) also respond to light and contribute to both visual and non-visual light responses, including circadian rhythms, sleep-wake control, mood, pupil size, and alertness. Three-primary display technologies, with their focus on reproducing colour, are not designed to reproduce the rod and melanopsin excitations. Moreover, conventional display metrics used to characterize three-primary displays fail to describe the display’s ability (or inability) to reproduce rod and melanopsin excitations, and thus do not capture the display’s ability to reproduce the full human physiological response to light. In this paper, three novel physiologically relevant metrics are proposed for quantifying the reproduction and distortion of the photoreceptor signals by visual displays. A novel equal-luminance photoreceptor excitation diagram is proposed, extending the well-known MacLeod-Boynton chromaticity diagram, to allow visualizations of the five-dimensional photoreceptor signal space in a three-dimensional projection.

scholarly journals No evidence for an S cone contribution to the human circadian response to light

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Spitschan ◽  
Rafael Lazar ◽  
Ebru Yetik ◽  
Christian Cajochen
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Short Wavelength ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Short Wavelength Light ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Wavelength Light

Exposure to even moderately bright, short-wavelength light in the evening can strongly suppress the production of melatonin and can delay our circadian rhythm. These effects are mediated by the retinohypothalamic pathway, connecting a subset of retinal ganglion cells to the circadian pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain. These retinal ganglion cells directly express the photosensitive protein melanopsin, rendering them intrinsically photosensitive (ipRGCs). But ipRGCs also receive input from the classical photoreceptors — the cones and rods. Here, we examined whether the short-wavelength-sensitive (S) cones contribute to circadian photoreception by using lights which differed exclusively in the amount of S cone excitation by almost two orders of magnitude (ratio 1:83), but not in the excitation of long-wavelength-sensitive (L) and medium-wavelength-sensitive (M) cones, rods, and melanopsin. We find no evidence for a role of S cones in the acute alerting and melatonin supressing response to evening light exposure, pointing to an exclusive role of melanopsin in driving circadian responses.

Topographies of retinal cone photoreceptors in two Australian marsupials

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. ARRESE ◽  
J. RODGER ◽  
L.D. BEAZLEY ◽  
J. SHAND
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Short Wavelength ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Visual Pigments ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Sminthopsis Crassicaudata ◽  
Cone Opsins ◽  
Retinal Cone ◽  
Honey Possum

Microspectrophotometry indicates the presence of at least three cone visual pigments in two Australian marsupials, the fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata) and honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus). Here we have examined the distribution of cone types using antisera, JH455 and JH492, that recognize short-wavelength-sensitive (SWS) and medium-to-long-wavelength-sensitive (M/LWS) cone opsins, respectively. SWS cones were concentrated in dorso-temporal retina in the dunnart with a shallow decreasing gradient extending to the periphery (2300–1500/mm2). In the honey possum, SWS cones showed a uniform distribution (2700/mm2), except for a slight increase in a narrow peripheral band (3100/mm2). In both species, M/LWS cones dominated and their distributions were similar to those of retinal ganglion cells: a horizontal streak in the dunnart (31,000–21,000/mm2) and a shallow mid-ventral to peripheral gradient in the honey possum (37,000–26,000/mm2). A low number of cones remained unlabeled when the antisera were combined revealing further minority cone population(s). We discuss cone distributions in relation to visual capabilities and requirements of the species.

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