Olothis is the name given to a new color perceived by 5 participants of the study conducted by US researchers from the University of Berkley, California. The study Novel Color Via Stimulation of Individual PhotoreCePtors at Population Scalepublished in recent days on Science Advancesstates that the participants, stimulated by a laser extremely precise, they perceived a completely new colora bluish green between turquoise and water green with one saturation Never seen before. To obtain this result, the researchers “hacked” the eye, using a retinal stimulation system called Ozcapable of stimulating only one type of photorecector, i coni m with peak sensitivity in correspondence with green.
This means ours future eye Will he be able to perceive new colors? Difficult to say: the authors of the study explain that this technology could play a role in new studies on operation of the eye and on vision or allow people with Daltonism to perceive colors.
How the eye works: what the cones and sticks are
The eye is a complex system in which all different parts collaborate to transform a luminous impulse in one electric. The light crosses a transparent dome -shaped layer, the corneaand a part of it enters the eye through the pupil. Subsequently, the light passes through the crystalline and hits the back of the eye the retinathe layer of photosensitive cells capable of converting light into electrical signals. These signals then travel from the retina to the brain through the nerve opticalwhere they will be transformed into the images we see. It is in the retina that the “sensors” of our eye are found, special photocercers called cones he is sticks. It is these receptors, through biochemical processes, that trigger a cascade of signals that reach the brain in the form of nerve impulses.
The sticks are fundamental for the night vision in black and white, while the cones were useful for the vision of colors. There are three types of cones, sensitive to different wavelengths to capture the different colors:
- Coni s: are sensitive to the short wavelengths, with a peak sensitivity around 430 Nm, which our brain interprets as the blue color.
- Coni m: respond better to light with medium length waves (the peak is around 530 Nm), which we see how green.
- Coni l: have the peak of sensitivity around 560 Nm, perceiving the shades of red.
The signals generated by these three types of cones travel to the brain thanks to the optical nerve, where they are mixed to create the entire range of colors that we can distinguish.
The OZ system the perception of the new OLO color
There is a particularity in the function of the different types of cones for vision of colors: the sensitivity to the different wavelengths yes overlappingtherefore a light that stimulates the cones M (green) will inevitably also activate, to a certain extent, the cones s (blue) or the cones l (red). In particular, light with wavelength in correspondence with the peak sensitivity of the cones M (530 nm, therefore green light) activates in a manner that is anything but negligible also the cones L, which absorb about 90% of this light.
In other words, when we see light at 530 Nm in our brain, a mixed mixed mix of signals from the cones M and the cones L. arrives the goal of researchers from the University of Berkley was that of wanting stimulate only one type of conesthose Mwithout co-stimulating the other types of cones. The authors of the study, after mapping a portion of the retina to identify the different cones, they only hit the cones m with microdosis of light. The technique used, is enough on a technology developed by co -authors of the University of Washington in Seattle, has allowed participants to view a new color called olo and was called Oz With reference to the famous novel The wonderful wizard of Ozas explained by Ren ngprofessor of electric and computer engineering at the University of California, Berkeley:
The name derives from the wizard of Oz, where a journey to the city of Smeraldo is faced, where things appear to be the most dazzling green that has ever been seen.
To understand what the five participants saw, the authors of the study invited them to Compare the new colorwhich appeared in a square on a monitor, with other single wavelength lights. There was no correspondence: theolo appeared more saturated than any natural blue-green. The participants had to add some white light to find a similar natural color. A way to get an idea of this new color is to start from water greenidentified by the hexadecimal code #00ffccand increase its saturation to the maximum using a photo editing program. However, even pushing the saturation to the limitone would not be able to reach the intensity of the new.
Possible future uses of the OZ system
The OZ system of US researchers promises to exceed the limits of the human eye exceeding almost 10 million colors that is able to perceive. But how can this technique be used in the future? Oz could help people with Daltonism to capture colors that are not able to see. In fact, these people cannot grasp all the colors of the spectrum visible due to a malfunction total or partial of photojournalistthe cones s, M o L. however, for these patients, the vision of colors such as red and green would be transient, it would not be a permanent treatment.
Innovative technology could be applied for a wide range of neuroscience studies or to obtain new information on the functioning of sensitive cells and the transformation of the luminous impulse into an electrical stimulus, opening new frontiers in the research on vision.
