Colour perception in the visual pathway

Context

Our visual perception of the continuous electromagnetic spectrum consists of combinations of only three discrete signals. Nonetheless, we are able to perceive a large number of distinct colours, and are able to maintain the perception of the colour of objects despite relatively large changes in the electromagnetic spectra of light reflected from those objects our eyes in differing lighting conditions.

The research

The magnetoencephalography (MEG) at the York Neuroimaging Centre allows us to record the magnetic fields associated with electric signals in the brain as quickly as 15,000 times a second, providing direct and time-resolved measurements of neural activity. For this reason, we are undertaking MEG experiments to investigate how, when, and where, colour signals are combined in the visual pathway.

Featured publications

• Emergence of symmetry selectivity in the visual areas of the human brain: fMRI responses to symmetry presented in both frontoparallel and slanted planes
• Population receptive field (pRF) measurements of chromatic responses in human visual cortex using fMRI
• Differences in selectivity to natural images in early visual areas