# Central mechanisms of color vision

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2024 · $388,750

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The visual system has emerged as a premier model for understanding information processing by neurons.
Within vision, the submodality of color provides a particularly attractive experimental platform: we know a
tremendous amount about the phenomenology of color perception and can explain some aspects of color
perception, quantitatively and with high precision, by well understood physiological processes. As a result of
this knowledge, we can quickly and accurately diagnose many distinct forms of color blindness and can build
devices that render colors accurately. On the other hand, surprising holes in our knowledge remain. The
proposed research will fill these holes in our knowledge by revealing the specializations of three types of
neurons in area V1 for color vision. Three specific aims are planned: 1) Electrophysiological characterization of
parvalbumin-expressing inhibitory neurons. 2) Testing the hypothesis that color-sensitive complex cells
enhance edges between materials of different reflectance. 3) Testing the hypothesis that double-opponent
cells are the physiological basis for color induction by simultaneous color contrast. The proposed experiments
will extend our knowledge toward an understanding of the principles that give rise to perception and its
disorders. Such an understanding promises to provide the means to promote recovery of visual function
following trauma or neurological disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10795829
- **Project number:** 5R01EY018849-13
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Gregory D Horwitz
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $388,750
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2010-02-01 → 2026-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10795829

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10795829, Central mechanisms of color vision (5R01EY018849-13). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10795829. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*