Spectral Sensitivity, Photopigments, and Color Vision in the Guinea Pig (Cavia porcellus )

Behavioral discrimination tests and electroretinogram (ERG) flicker photometry were used to measure spectral sensitivity and to define the spectral mechanisms of the guinea pig ( Cavia porcellus ). Results from these 2 approaches converge to indicate that guinea pig retinas contain rods with peak se...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral neuroscience 1994-10, Vol.108 (5), p.993-1004
Main Authors: Jacobs, Gerald H, Deegan, Jess F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anatomical correlates of behavior
Animal
Animals
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Cavia porcellus
Color
Color Perception
Color Perception - physiology
Discrimination Learning - physiology
Electroretinography
Eyes & eyesight
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Guinea Pigs
Male
Photoreceptors
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells - physiology
Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells - physiology
Rhodopsin - physiology
Rodents
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Summary:Behavioral discrimination tests and electroretinogram (ERG) flicker photometry were used to measure spectral sensitivity and to define the spectral mechanisms of the guinea pig ( Cavia porcellus ). Results from these 2 approaches converge to indicate that guinea pig retinas contain rods with peak sensitivity of about 494 nm and 2 classes of cone having peak sensitivities of about 429 nm and 529 nm. The presence of 2 classes of cones suggests a retinal basis for a color vision capacity. Behavioral tests of color vision were conducted that verified this prediction: Guinea pigs have dichromatic color vision with a spectral neutral point centered at about 480 nm. The cone pigment complement of the guinea pig is different from that known to characterize other rodents.
ISSN:0735-7044
1939-0084
DOI:10.1037/0735-7044.108.5.993