Opponent-color models and the influence of rod signals on the loci of unique hues.

To investigate how rod signals influence hue perception and how this influence can be incorporated into opponent-color models, we measured the shift of unique-hue loci under dark-adapted conditions compared with cone-plateau conditions. Rod signals produced shifts of all spectral unique hues (blue, green, yellow) but in a pattern that was inconsistent with simple additive combinations of rod and cone inputs in opponent-color models. The shifts are consistent with non-linear models in which rod influence requires non-zero cone signals. Cone-signal strength may modulate or gate rod influence, or rod signals may change the gain of cone pathways.