Tendency for sight to shift toward blue colors at low light levels
An animated sequence of simulated appearances of a red flower (of a zonal geranium) and background foliage under photopic, mesopic, and scotopic conditions
The Purkinje effect or Purkinje phenomenon (Czech:[ˈpurkɪɲɛ]ⓘ; sometimes called the Purkinje shift, often pronounced /pərˈkɪndʒi/)[1] is the tendency for the peak luminance sensitivity of the eye to shift toward the blue end of the color spectrum at low illumination levels as part of dark adaptation.[2][3][page needed] In consequence, reds will appear darker relative to other colors as light levels decrease.[4] The effect is named after the Czech anatomist Jan Evangelista Purkyně. While the effect is often described from the perspective of the human eye, it is well established in a number of animals under the same name to describe the general shifting of spectral sensitivity due to pooling of rod and cone output signals as a part of dark/light adaptation.[5][6][7][8]
This effect introduces a difference in color contrast under different levels of illumination. For instance, in bright sunlight, geranium flowers appear bright red against the dull green of their leaves, or adjacent blue flowers, but in the same scene viewed at dusk, the contrast is reversed, with the red petals appearing a dark red or black, and the leaves and blue petals appearing relatively bright.
The sensitivity to light in scotopic vision varies with wavelength, though the perception is essentially black-and-white. The Purkinje shift is the relation between the absorption maximum of rhodopsin, reaching a maximum at about 500 nanometres (2.0×10−5 in), and that of the opsins in the longer-wavelength cones that dominate in photopic vision, about 555 nanometres (2.19×10−5 in) (green).[9]
In visual astronomy, the Purkinje shift can affect visual estimates of variable stars when using comparison stars of different colors, especially if one of the stars is red.[10]
^Frisby JP (1980). Seeing: Illusion, Brain and Mind. Oxford University Press : Oxford.
^Purkinje JE (1825). Neue Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Sehens in Subjectiver Hinsicht. Reimer : Berlin. pp. 109–110.
^Mitsuo Ikeda, Chian Ching Huang & Shoko Ashizawa: Equivalent lightness of colored objects at illuminances from the scotopic to the photopic level
^Dodt, E. (July 1967). "Purkinje-shift in the rod eye of the bush-baby, Galago crassicaudatus". Vision Research. 7 (7–8): 509–517. doi:10.1016/0042-6989(67)90060-0. PMID 5608647.
^Silver, Priscilla H. (1 October 1966). "A Purkinje shift in the spectral sensitivity of grey squirrels". The Journal of Physiology. 186 (2): 439–450. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1966.sp008045. PMC 1395858. PMID 5972118.
^Armington, John C.; Thiede, Frederick C. (August 1956). "Electroretinal Demonstration of a Purkinje Shift in the Chicken Eye". American Journal of Physiology. Legacy Content. 186 (2): 258–262. doi:10.1152/ajplegacy.1956.186.2.258. PMID 13362518.
^Hammond, P.; James, C. R. (1 July 1971). "The Purkinje shift in cat: extent of the mesopic range". The Journal of Physiology. 216 (1): 99–109. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009511. PMC 1331962. PMID 4934210.
^"Eye, human." Encyclopædia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD
^Sidgwick, John Benson; Gamble, R. C. (1980). Amateur Astronomer's Handbook. Courier Corporation. p. 429. ISBN 9780486240343.
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