Transmission of colour and acuity signals by parvocellular cells in marmoset monkeys

摘要

Non-technical summaryColour gets a free ride, according to our study of visual nerve cell responses in marmoset monkeys. All male marmosets are red–green colour-blind (dichromatic), but most female marmosets have normal trichromatic colour vision. It is known that signals for high-acuity daytime vision are carried in the parvocellular (P) pathway, and the P pathway also carries signals for red–green colour vision in trichromats. Here we compared P cell responses with patterned stimuli in dichromatic and trichromatic marmosets, and found no detectable difference in resolving power for fine patterns. These results indicate that red–green colour vision does not come at a cost for spatial vision. The ‘piggyback ride’ for colour signals in the P pathway may have encouraged the evolution of full colour vision in primates, including great apes, monkeys and humans.