Abstract

The foveal cone threshold was significantly lower after 45 min of dark adaptation than it was near the start of the cone plateau of the dark-adaptation curve. A concentric rod background subsequently raised the threshold by an amount correlated with the difference between the cone plateau and the dark-adapted thresholds. Paradoxically, the rod background also lowered the cone threshold by an amount that differed from subject to subject. This sensitizing effect was identifiable by its relatively small variability across sessions. These results show that adaptation of parafoveal rods by either real light or dark light can change foveal cone thresholds.

© 1981 Optical Society of America

Chromatic rod–cone interaction during dark adaptation

Bjørn Stabell and Ulf Stabell
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Dark Adaptation to Intermediate Levels and to Complete Darkness*

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