EXPERIMENT 5

MAPPING OF RETINAL COLOUR ZONES

Introduction:

Vision and other sensory processes were being investigated scientifically even before
psychology emerged as a formal discipline. The interests of physicists in the nature of light and
of physiologists in the functioning of sensory nerves and their accessory structures, such as the
eye led to the discovery of many problems that were physiological in nature. The research
workers followed wherever the problems led, regardless of the field in which they had been
formally trained. Today, problems of visual sensation and perception elicit keen interest from
psychologists engaged in laboratory studies of many kinds. The experiments being done have
many practical applications as well as theoretical implications.

The retina is photosensitive and is comprised of specialized nerve cells - rods and it is due to the
cones that we respond to color, whereas the rods help us in cones. Night vision. The color zones
of the retina are smaller than the visual field. There are some specific parts of the retina
responsible for color vision. They are (i) Central (ii) Middle and (iii) Peripheral. The middle part
of the retina is sensitive only for blue and yellow colors, whereas the central part is sensitive for
all the colors, besides grey and brightness. The peripheral zone is sensitive only for brightness.

As pointed out by Woodworth (1954) "One of the striking facts of normal color vision is that
everyone is completely color blind in the periphery of the retina." A patch of any color looks
grey when seen in the margin of the visual field. This is because peripheral vision is rod vision.

Review of Literature:

1. Retinal Vessel Classification

By: D Relan, L Ballerini

The classification of vascular vessels in the retina is an important step in the detection of
changes in the vascular system. It can also be used to identify biomarkers related to
systemic diseases. We performed an algorithm for the classification of fundus camera
images by region B and an extended zone using only four colour features. We were able to
achieve an accuracy of 90.67 and 87.66 percent, respectively. The data collected by the
DRIVE and INSPIRE-AVR datasets showed that the classification rate was 86.2 and 87.6
percent, respectively.
 2. Area analysis of foveal avascular zone
By: MH Azhar, Izhar L
Aneurysm of the foveal avascular zone is usually found in the eyes of people with diabetic
retinopathy. It is difficult to identify its size using fundus images. A new automated
approach was developed to analyze FAZ using the color fundus images. This method uses
a binary map of the vascular vasculature to determine the end points and pathologies of
the FAZ. The proposed method is compared to a manual-segmented FAZ approach. It
achieves an accuracy of 99.8 percent and a mean accuracy improvement of 16.4 percent.
The developed algorithm is more reliable.

3. Mapping of retinal and geniculate neurons

By: SJ Schein, FM

A unity ratio between the magnocellular and geniculate cells can be shown in the visual
system. The density of the parvocellular and geniculate cells in the dorsal lateral nucleus
can be compared with cortical magnification. The density of P cells relative to the size of
the puff-centered module indicates that V1 magnification is proportional to the size of the
cells. Our study supports a novel hypothesis regarding peripheral scaling, which proposes
that V1 cortical magnification is caused by the mapping of afferents onto V1 modules.

References:

1. Relan, D., Ballerini, L., Trucco, E., & MacGillivray, T. (2016). Retinal vessel classification based
on maximization of squared-loss mutual information. In Machine Intelligence and Signal
Processing (pp. 77-84). Springer, New Delhi.
2. Ahmad Fadzil, M. H., Lila Iznita, I., & Nugroho, H. A. (2011). Area analysis of foveal avascular
zone in diabetic retinopathy colour fundus images. International Journal of Medical Engineering
and Informatics, 3(1), 84-98.
3. Schein, S. J., & de Monasterio, F. M. (1987). Mapping of retinal and geniculate neurons onto
striate cortex of macaque. Journal of Neuroscience, 7(4), 996-1009.

Problem:

To measure the retinal color zones of the right eye of the subject, for red, green, yellow and blue
colors.

Hypothesis:

The retinal color zones for yellow and blue are larger than that for red and green.
Variables:

Independent variable: The different color pointers.

Dependent variable: Subject's responses as indicated by the readings on the metal arc.

Materials:

a) Perimeter

b) Color pointers for red, green, blue and yellow

c) Perimetric chart.

Plan:

The experiment is conducted in 4 series, with the arc at 4 different angles 0°, 90°, 180° and 270°.
For each angle, one 'inward' trial is given, for each of the 4 color pointers. The retinal color zone
for each color is mapped and compared.

Experimental Controls:

1) Adequate light must be present to enable the subject to see the clearly.

2) Subject's right eye must be focused at the fixation point during each trial; and the left eye kept
closed.

3) Movement of the color pointer along the metal arc must be kept at a constant and relatively
slow speed.

4) Check subject's color vision to rule out color blindness.

Procedure:

The subject is seated comfortably, with his chin placed on the chin rest of the perimeter, and his
right eye focused on the fixation point. The subject is instructed to report the color when he sees
the color pointer.
After giving instructions, the experimenter says 'ready' and slowly moves the color giving
instructions, the experimenter says 'ready' and slowly moves the color pointer inward, along the
arc, till the subject responds correctly.

The reading on the metal arc is noted, and the procedure is repeated for the remaining color
pointers. After 4 trials (one trial for each color) at 0°, move the arm of the perimeter to 90° and
conduct the experiment. Repeat for 180° and 270°,

NOTE:

Angle Position of the arm of perimeter

0° Adjacent to the right eye
90° Above the forehead
180° Adjacent to the left eye
270⁰ Below the chin.

Instructions:

"Place your chin on the chin rest. Close your left eye and focus your right eye on the fixation
point. I will say 'ready' and start moving a color pointer along this metal arc. As soon as you see
it report what color you see. Please do not move your eye from the fixation point.”

Analysis of Results:

1) The readings for each color are recorded in the table for the 4 angles.
2) The retinal color zones are mapped on the perimetric chart, using the readings.

Points for Discussion:

1) Compare the subject's color zones for red and green with those for blue and yellow.

2) Verify the hypothesis on the basis of the obtained results.

Table 1: Individual Data: color zones at 4 angles:

Angles Red Green Blue Yellow

0⁰ 53 57 38 60
90⁰ 33 14 14 25
180⁰ 28 28 31 53
270⁰ 29 29 24 26

The experiment was conducted on F.L, a 19-year-old female studying in St. Joseph’s College,
Bangalore (Autonomous).

Looking at table 1, it can be seen that at 0 degree, the subject has been able to identify the color
red at 53, green at 57, blue at 38 and yellow at 60. The subject partially proves the hypothesis at
0 degree. At 50 degree, the subject has been able to identify the color red at 33, green at 14, blue
at 14 and yellow at 25. The subject partially proves the hypothesis at 50 degrees. At 180 degrees,
the subject has been able to identify the color red at30, green at 28, blue at 31 and yellow at 53.
The subject proves the hypothesis at 180 degree. At 270 degree, subject has been able to identify
the color red at 20, green at 29, blue at 24 and yellow at 26. The subject partially proves the
hypothesis at 270 degree

Conclusion:

The subject partially proves the hypothesis at 0 degree, 90 degree and 270 degree and proves the
hypothesis at 180 degree which is, “The retinal color zones for yellow and blue are larger than
that for red and green.