Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Color Vision

Color Vision

Color perception begins in the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. Two main theories explain how colors are seen: the trichromatic theory and the opponent-process theory. The trichromatic theory, proposed by Thomas Young in 1802 and extended by Hermann von Helmholtz in 1852, suggests that color vision is based on three types of cone receptors in the retina. These cones are sensitive to different but overlapping ranges of wavelengths corresponding to red, blue, and green.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Vision as looking and seeing through a bottleneck.

Current opinion in neurobiology·2026

Same author

What are the functions of primary visual cortex (V1)?

Current opinion in neurobiology·2026

Same author

Conduction velocity of intracortical axons in monkey primary visual cortex grows with distance: Implications for computation.

Vision research·2026

Same author

The superficial layers of the primary visual cortex create a saliency map that feeds forward to the parietal cortex.

PLoS biology·2025

Same author

V1 superficial layers create a saliency map that feeds forward to the parietal cortex for attentional guidance.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025

Same author

Testing the top-down feedback in the central visual field using the reversed depth illusion.

iScience·2025

Same journal

Pitch selectivity in ferret auditory cortex.

Current biology : CB·2026

Same journal

A cell size-dependent competition between geometry and polarity governs nuclear and spindle positioning in early embryos.

Current biology : CB·2026

Same journal

Trophic cascades drive sustainability in the agricultural heritage rice-fish coculture system.

Current biology : CB·2026

Same journal

Tracking Satb2-positive retinal ganglion cells in zebrafish unveils developmental functional reorganization.

Current biology : CB·2026

Same journal

RhoGAP54D promotes cell size asymmetry and inhibits pulsatile myosin activity in Drosophila neural stem cells.

Current biology : CB·2026

Same journal

Increased rates of hybridization in swordtails are associated with water pollution.

Current biology : CB·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Generating Strictly Controlled Stimuli for Figure Recognition Experiments

Generating Strictly Controlled Stimuli for Figure Recognition Experiments

Published on: March 18, 2019

Efficient Coding Theory Predicts a Tilt Aftereffect from Viewing Untilted Patterns.

Keith A May¹, Li Zhaoping¹

¹UCL Department of Computer Science, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.

Current Biology : CB

|June 14, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Visual adaptation in the brain efficiently encodes sensory information. This study confirms that adapting binocular summation and differencing channels controls perceived tilt direction, supporting efficient visual coding theories.

More Related Videos

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Published on: January 23, 2017

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Published on: May 12, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Generating Strictly Controlled Stimuli for Figure Recognition Experiments

Generating Strictly Controlled Stimuli for Figure Recognition Experiments

Published on: March 18, 2019

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Published on: January 23, 2017

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Published on: May 12, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience
Visual Perception

Background:

The brain efficiently encodes vast sensory input due to data transmission rate limitations.
Efficient coding theories propose decorrelated binocular summation and differencing channels for visual information processing.
Adaptation, or temporary desensitization, occurs when a channel is strongly stimulated.

Purpose of the Study:

To test Li and Atick's theory on efficient visual coding.
To investigate the role of binocular summation and differencing channels in visual perception.
To demonstrate control over perceived tilt direction through selective adaptation.

Main Methods:

Utilized binocular adaptation patterns (untilted or non-oriented) to selectively desensitize specific visual channels.
Presented test patterns with ambiguous tilt information to the two eyes.
Measured the perceived direction of tilt (clockwise/counterclockwise) after adaptation.

Main Results:

Selective desensitization of binocular channels using adaptation patterns successfully controlled the perceived tilt of test patterns.
Demonstrated that adaptation to untilted or non-oriented patterns can bias perceived tilt.
Provided compelling evidence for the existence and adaptive nature of binocular summation and differencing channels.

Conclusions:

The brain utilizes mutually decorrelated binocular summation and differencing channels for efficient visual coding.
These binocular channels undergo adaptation based on prevailing visual statistics.
The findings support theories of efficient sensory information encoding in the visual system.