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Color perception profiles in central achromatopsia

Department of Neurology (Drs. Rizzo and Damasio), University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA; and the Visual Sciences Center (Drs. Smith and Pokorny), University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.

Central achromatopsia is an impairment of color perception caused by damage to the visual association cortex. Its psychophysical underpinnings remain poorly defined. We report our attempt to characterize the defect along critical dimensions of color space, taking advantage of the same standardized tasks that allow detailed profiles in patients with retinal cone defects. We studied two patients. The results in patient 1 showed that perceptual color space was collapsed along the red-green (R-G) and short-wavelength-sensitive cone (S-cone) dimensions but that discriminations along achromatic dimensions were relatively preserved. Additional observations showed that the defect was dependent on target size, and that processing of surface and light source effects that differ from color (eg, transparency) was intact. Patient 2 showed a less severe color processing defect involving signals arising from the S-cones of the retina, although an E-G defect was also present. The profiles in these two patients demonstrate that central achromatopsia encompasses a range of color processing impairments with varied psychophysical characteristics.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Matthew Rizzo, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA 52242

Received June 22, 1992. Accepted for publication in final form September 22, 1992.

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