0000000000365792
AUTHOR
Jürgen Schramme
Rod-cone based color vision in seals under photopic conditions
Marine mammals have lost the ability to express S-cone opsin, and possess only one type of M/L-cone in addition to numerous rods. As they are cone monochromats they should be color blind. However, early behavioral experiments with fur seals and sea lions indicated discrimination ability between many shades of grey and blue or green. On the other hand, most recent training experiments with harbor seals under "mesopic" conditions demonstrated rod based color blindness (Scholtyssek et al., 2015). In our experiments we trained two harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) and two South African fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus) with surface colors under photopic conditions. The seals had to detect a triang…
Training experiments with Bombus terrestris and Apis mellifera on artificial ‘ Salvia ’ flowers
Abstract Many bee flowers demand physical force from their pollinators. An example is Salvia with lever-like anthers restricting access to nectar. Though the needed force is generally low, it is largely unknown how far even low forces affect flower preference and foraging behaviour of bees. In the present paper, we introduce a method to measure the response of bees to a force mechanism. We explain the construction of artificial flowers mimicking the lever mechanism of a Salvia flower and the procedure to train honeybees and bumblebees to the models. We document the behaviour of the bees on models without barriers and on those with low forces aiming at the same time to determine the bees’ se…
100 Years of Benham's Top in Colour Science
For 100 years Benham's top has been a popular device demonstrating pattern-induced flicker colours (PIFCs). Results of early and recent investigations on PIFCs are reported and show that the phenomenon originates in phase-sensitive lateral interactions of modulated neural activity in the retina followed by additional spatial interactions in the visual cortex behind the locus of binocular fusion. Colour matches with normal colour stimuli indicate that S/(M + L) opponent neurons are involved. Dichromats do not find matching stimuli for all PIFCs. PIFCs may become useful in medical diagnosis. The phenomenon is interpreted as a side effect of a neural mechanism providing colour constancy under…
Understanding color vision, with comments on mind and matter
Much is known about the mental and physical aspects of color vision. Color vision, therefore, is a paradigm well suited for the discussion of the relationship between mind and matter. The aim of the present chapter is to support the proposition that mental affairs cannot be adequately understood if their neurobiological aspects are neglected. Although it is possible to focus on fundamental problems of general relevance when discussing mind and matter, this chapter will deal with specific observations rather than general issues. The possibility of generalizations derived from empirical results is always limited. Provided the conditions under which these observations were made can be confirme…
Changes in pattern induced flicker colors are mediated by the blue-yellow opponent process.
The colors of Benham's Top [pattern induced flicker colors (PIFCs)] were matched with color stimuli provided by a computer aided color mixer. Subjects viewed a series of specifically modified black and white disks and matched the resulting subjective color with a comparison field containing the color generated by additive mixing. Different phase relations between the apparently colored ring and the surround were tested. The color loci of all PIFCs were found to lie on a plane in receptor three-space which is given by the axis of the shortwave receptor excitation and a vector given by combining the middle and long wave receptor excitation directions in a fixed ratio of nearly 1:1. From the o…
Color induction via non-opponent lateral interactions in the human retina
Retinal connections causing colors in Benham's top (pattern induced flicker colors, PIFCs) are investigated by psychophysical experiments. PIFCs are still seen when stimuli to different cones are demodulated selectively, indicating the involvement of non-opponent channels. PIFCs also occur on retinal areas next to those affected by modulated stimuli; further, both monochromat and dark-adapted trichromats perceive PIFCs which are achromatic. These additional findings point to horizontal cells as neuronal mediators of modulated excitation leading to PIFCs. The unspecifity of the postulated connection with respect to cone types agrees with anatomic findings of Boycott, B. B., Hopkins, J. M. an…
Three-dimensional interpretation of the color system of Aguilonius/Rubens 1613
The two-dimensional color system in the textbook on optics, written by F. Aguilonius (1613) and illustrated by PP Rubens,1 is equivalent to a three-dimensional color solid, which can also be constructed by applying the trichromatic theory of color vision on a color circle. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Col Res Appl, 26, S17–S19, 2001