A long-standing question in vision science is how the three cone photoreceptor types—long (L), medium (M), and short (S) wavelength sensitive—combine to generate our perception of color. Hue perception can be described along two opponent axes: red–green and blue–yellow. Psychophysical measurements of color appearance indicate that the cone inputs to the red–green and blue–yellow opponent axes are M vs. L + S and L vs. M + S, respectively. However, the "cardinal directions of color space" revealed by psychophysical measurements of color detection thresholds following adaptation are L vs. M and S vs. L + M. These cardinal directions match the most common cone-opponent retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the primate retina. Accordingly, the cone opponency necessary for color appearance is thought to be established in the cortex. While neurons with the appropriate M vs. L + S and L vs. M + S opponency have been reported in the retina and lateral geniculate nucleus, their existence continues to be debated. Resolving this long-standing debate is necessary because a complete account of the cone opponency in the retinal output is critical for understanding how downstream neural circuits process color. Here, we performed adaptive optics calcium imaging to noninvasively measure foveal RGC light responses in the living Macaca fascicularis eye. We confirm the presence of L vs. M + S and M vs. L + S neurons with noncardinal cone opponency and demonstrate that cone-opponent signals in the retinal output are more diverse than classically thought.

视觉科学中一个长期存在的问题是，三种锥体光感受器类型——长（L）、中（M）和短（S）波长敏感——如何结合起来产生我们对颜色的感知。色调感知可以沿着两个对立的轴来描述：红-绿和蓝-黄。颜色外观的心理物理学测量表明，红绿轴和蓝黄轴的锥体输入分别为 M 与 L + S 和 L 与 M + S。然而，适应后颜色检测阈值的心理物理学测量揭示的“颜色空间的基本方向”是 L vs. M 和 S vs. L + M。这些基本方向与最常见的视锥细胞对立视网膜神经节细胞 (RGC) 相匹配。灵长类动物的视网膜。因此，颜色外观所需的视锥细胞对抗被认为是在皮层中建立的。虽然在视网膜和外侧膝状核中已经报道了具有适当的 M vs. L + S 和 L vs. M + S 对立的神经元，但它们的存在仍然存在争议。解决这一长期存在的争论是必要的，因为完整地解释视网膜输出中的视锥细胞对抗对于理解下游神经回路如何处理颜色至关重要。在这里，我们进行了自适应光学钙成像，以无创地测量活体食蟹猴眼睛的中心凹 RGC 光反应。我们确认了具有非基数视锥细胞对抗的 L 与 M + S 和 M 与 L + S 神经元的存在，并证明视网膜输出中的视锥细胞对抗信号比经典认为的更加多样化。