Tetrachromats see the world four times more colorful Our vision is based on the structure of our eyes. We have three cones in our eyes, which include one for each, blue, red and green colors. This is the reason that humans are categorized as trichromats. However, we still see more colors than most mammals that have only two cones for color reception. Birds, although, see much better than we do. Penguins have a set of five color cones, which process visual information around ten times faster than we humans do. Similarly, spiders also see better than we do. They have four color receptors and are therefore called tetrachromats. But what does it mean to have an extra color receptor? Humans see around 1 million different types of colors. On the other hand, tetrachromats can discern around 100 million colors. If humans can see seven colors in a rainbow and three shades of white, the tetrachromats could see hundreds of colors in the rainbow and similarly additional shades of white. Researchers have been looking into this phenomenon since the 1990s. They suggest that as little as 1 percent and as much as 50 percent of women are tetrachromats. Women with fourcolor receptive cones are seen to perceive more chromatic appearances as compared to the trichromatic humans. The phenomenon has very recently been uncovered because the male subjects have been considered the basis for many scientific experiments. Until very recently the scientific community had not realized the importance of in-lab trials on both the genders. Concetta Antico, a famous impressionist painter told “Popular Science�that on a leaf, she would see orange, red or purple in the shadow; while others may see dark green, she sees violet or may be blue. She calls herself the world’s first tetrachromats painter. Her particular skill is connected to her biology and her neurology. She has always been fascinated with colors. However, she adds that people who have this ability, but do not know about it, may not be able to recognize much colors. Hence, keen observation with knowledge are very important to make this skill a success. The researchers on this study at the Institute of Mathematical Behavioral Sciences at the University of California in Irvine have been working with the great tetrachromat Antico. She has also been looking for more tetrachromats to test in order to determine the gap between the perceptions of trichromats and tetrachromats. She says that more tetrachromats will help them better generalize the situation of tetrachromats.
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