Investigating Neural Processing of Color in Normal and Impaired Vision

This study examines cortical responses to chromatic and luminance stimuli in individuals with normal trichromatic vision, Daltonism, and achromatopsia. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected using stimuli modeled after Wade et al. (2008) to evaluate the differential activation of visual cortical areas. In normal trichromats, hV4 demonstrated the highest chromatic sensitivity, while ventral areas showed stronger responses to color compared to dorsal regions. In Daltonic and achromatopsia participants, cortical activation was observed under combined chromatic and luminance conditions; however, no significant color-specific activity was detected, even in hV4.

This work establishes a baseline for understanding cortical responses in color vision deficiencies and preceded gene therapy studies in the same achromatopsia patients (Fischer et al., 2020; Seitz et al., 2022). These findings contribute to ongoing research into neural plasticity and targeted therapeutic interventions.