Visual Pigments of Single Primate Cones

Abstract

Single parafoveal cones from human and monkey retinas were examined in a recording microspectrophotometer. Three types of receptors with maximum absorption in the yellow, green, and violet regions of the spectruin were found. Thus the commonly held belief, for which there has previously been no direct and unequivocal evidence, that color vision is mediated by several kinds of receptors (possibly three), each containing photopigments absorbing in diflerent regions of the spectrum, is confirmed.