Variation of chromatic sensitivity across the life span

Thresholds were measured along three directions in color space for detecting an equiluminant color change of a set of bars embedded in a larger field of spatio-temporal achromatic noise for observers ranging in age from 3 months to 86 years. Pre-verbal observers were assessed with a forced-choice preferential-looking technique while older observers responded orally or manually. Over the life span, thresholds could be described along each color axis tested by a curve with two trends. Thresholds decreased with each doubling of age by nearly a factor of two until adolescence. Thereafter, thresholds increased by a factor of 1.4-2 with each doubling of age. Sensitivity to chromatic differences varied similarly along all three axes tested, suggesting uniformity in the sensitivity of chromatic mechanisms across the life span. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.