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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 567/2/665    most recent jphysiol.2005.089516v1 Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by den Ouden, H. E. M. Articles by de Haan, E. H. F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by den Ouden, H. E. M. Articles by de Haan, E. H. F.

¹ Helmholtz Institute, Department of Physics of Man, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
² Department of Physiology, University College London, London, UK
³ Helmholtz Institute, Department of Psychonomics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands

The spatial differences between the two retinal images, called binocular disparities, can be used to recover the three-dimensional (3D) aspects of a scene. The computation of disparity depends upon the correct identification of corresponding features in the two images. Understanding what image features are used by the brain to solve this binocular matching problem is an important issue in research on stereoscopic vision. The role of colour in binocular vision is controversial and it has been argued that colour is ineffective in achieving binocular vision. In the current experiment subjects were required to indicate the amount of perceived depth. The stimulus consisted of an array of fronto-parallel bars uniformly distributed in a constant sized volume. We studied the perceived depth in those 3D stimuli by manipulating both colour (monochrome, trichrome) and luminance (congruent, incongruent). Our results demonstrate that the amount of perceived depth was influenced by colour, indicating that the visual system uses colour to achieve binocular matching. Physiological data have revealed cortical cells in macaque V2 that are tuned both to binocular disparity and to colour. We suggest that one of the functional roles of these cells may be to help solve the binocular matching problem.

(Received 28 April 2005; accepted after revision 16 June 2005; first published online 23 June 2005)
Corresponding author R. van Ee: Helmholtz Institute, Department of Physics of Man, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.  Email: r.vanee{at}phys.uu.nl