Does colour provide an input to human motion perception? (original) (raw)

Nature volume 275, pages 55–56 (1978)Cite this article

Abstract

A PUZZLING feature of the visual system of primates is the occurrence of a multiplicity of separate ‘maps’ of the visual environment, each of which has its own independent set of afferent connections. Perhaps these maps represent an early stae in the analysis of visual information by the brain. Electrophysiological studies have shown that depth is analysed in _V_2 (area 18)(ref. 1), that colour-coded cells occur mainly in _V_4 and that motion in the visual field is analysed in the posterior bank of the superior temporal sulcus2 (Fig. 1). We report here an experiment which suggests that colour and movement are handled separately in the visual system and that information defined by wavelength cannot be processed by the brain's motion-detecting mechanisms. This finding is consistent with Zeki's demonstration that “cells of the movement area are not concerned with colour”2,3.

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Author notes

  1. V. S. RAMACHANDRAN
    Present address: Kenneth Craik Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Brain and Perception Laboratory, Department of Anatomy, The Medical School University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
    V. S. RAMACHANDRAN & R. L. GREGORY

Authors

  1. V. S. RAMACHANDRAN
  2. R. L. GREGORY

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RAMACHANDRAN, V., GREGORY, R. Does colour provide an input to human motion perception?.Nature 275, 55–56 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/275055a0

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