Color-vision mechanisms of the extrafoveal retina

Abstract

Wavelength discrimination, spectral sensitivity as well as color-matching performance were measured at the fovea and at different eccentricities in the peripheral retina. The results show that the underlying mechanisms of color vision in the normal peripheral retina are different from those of the classic forms of congenital color blindness. On the other hand, a close correspondence was found between color-vision characteristics obtained in the extrafoveal retina and in patients with acquired color-vision defects due to diseases of the optic nerve, suggesting that the loss of color discrimination with eccentricity and during progression of these diseases has a common underlying basis.