Abstract

P and M ganglion cells connect the retina to the visual cortex in monkeys and man. P cells project to the parvocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus, while M cells project to the magnocellular layers. M cells have the highest senstivity to luminance contrast and may be the neural vehicle for contrast detection. P cells are color selective and are most sensitive to coarse colored patterns. Brightness must depend on the combined activity of M and P cells. Color may also result from interaction between M and P cells in the visual cortex. Experiments on color exchange show that while M cells are silenced at one particular color balance, their null points are distributed widely enough that the M population may contribute to color perception.

© 1987 Optical Society of America