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Seeing The World of Colours: How Infants Develop Colour Vision?

by | Sep 1, 2025 | Manuscripts | 0 comments

Niyati Arun Keni, M. Optom.

Optometry Faculty, ITM Skills University, Navi Mumbai, India

 
Colour is a very important part of sensory vision development, yet infants have a very limited capacity to distinguish colours. But do they distinguish only black and white colours in early infancy?

Perception of colour vision begins with specialised retinal cells called photoreceptor cone cells. Studies have found that while new babies can look at bright patterns and simple colours, their skill to see all shades͏ grows over the first few months of life. (1)

Three types of photoreceptor cones are responsible for colour vision in humans, with spectral sensitivities that peak at long wavelength (L-cones, reddish light), medium wavelength (M-cones, greenish light), and short wavelength (S-cones, bluish light). (2)

At birth, infants cannot distinguish between a wide range of colours. They mostly see strong patterns in black, white, and grey tones since their eyes and neural pathways are not fully developed. A study shows that new babies like strong patterns, which shows that their visual system is beginning to process these contrasts, but cannot differentiate colours. (5)

According to studies using psychophysical methods, Visual Evoked Potentials indicate that the red-green colour mechanism of the infant develops first at two months of age and then the blue-yellow colour mechanism at 4-8 weeks later. (9)

By the age of 3 months, infants became trichromatic (both cone-opponent mechanisms are active). But even if the infant becomes trichromatic, their ability to perceive desaturated (faded) colours is still very weak. Saturated thresholds do not reach that level until late adulthood. (8) These colour-related findings support the concept that visual discrimination takes a long time to develop, and visual acuity also does not reach adult level until the age of 7. (11)

A study was developed that consists of a series of large cards constructed with Munsell Hues, which uses a modified Preferential Looking procedure (FPL) used to check the colour vision in 2-month-old infants. (3)

An individual with colour vision status cannot be fully determined by a single test. Various tests are used to identify normal colour vision, colour defects, and to assess the level of errors. Additional evaluations help assess the patient’s colour discrimination abilities. (12,14,15)

Infants show a preference for certain equiluminant chromatic stimuli, often favouring “something” over “nothing.” Vision tests often use the Forced-choice Preferential Looking (FPL) method, where an infant looks at a large uniform field with a test stimulus projected on one side. An alignment toward the stimulus indicates that it is noticeably different from the surrounding field. (12,14,15) Some studies were done by increasing the contrast to see colours, but there was no significant difference found. (13)

Age Colour Perception
Birth – 1 week Primarily views in shades of black, white, and grey. (9)
1 – 2 weeks May start to notice the colour red. (9)
1 Month Improved perception of red and green shades. (9)
2 – 3 Months Begins to perceive blues and yellows. The full spectrum is not clear yet. (8)
3 – 6 Months Can see a wider spectrum (Trichromats). (8)
6 months onwards Detects desaturated (less intense) colours poorly. (11)
7 years Can detect all hues of colours, including desaturated and saturated colours.(11)

Table 1: The Table below shows a Rough Guide on How Babies can see Colours at Different Stages of Development

Conclusion

Colour vision in infants is a gradual developmental process that undergoes significant changes in the first six months of life. (10) As the neural structure of the eyes of the infant matures with time, their skills to perceive and differentiate between different and distinct colours begin to develop and improve. Knowledge about these sequential events of colour vision advancement may be crucial for parents and the sensitive surroundings of the child, as they enable the child to develop more effectively. (16)

References

  1. Johnson SP. Development of visual perception. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2011 Sep;2(5):515-528. doi: 10.1002/wcs.128. Epub 2010 Nov 22. PMID: 26302303.
  2. Joesch M, Meister M. A neuronal circuit for colour vision based on rod-cone opponency. Nature. 2016 Apr 14;532(7598):236-9. doi: 10.1038/nature17158. Epub 2016 Apr 6. PMID: 27049951.
  3. Adams RJ, Courage ML, Mercer ME. Systematic measurement of human neonatal colour vision. Vision Res. 1994 Jul;34(13):1691-701. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(94)90127-9. PMID: 7941376.
  4. Yuodelis C, Hendrickson A. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the human fovea during development. Vision Res. 1986;26(6):847-55. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(86)90143- 4. PMID: 3750868.
  5. Teller DY. Spatial and temporal aspects of infant colour vision. Vision Res. 1998 Nov;38(21):3275-82. doi: 10.1016/s0042-6989(97)00468-9. PMID: 9893838.
  6. Knoblauch K, Vital-Durand F, Barbur JL. Variation of chromatic sensitivity across the life span. Vision Res. 2001 Jan;41(1):23-36. doi: 10.1016/s0042-6989(00)00205-4. PMID: 11163613.
  7. Maurer, D. (2017). Critical periods re-examined: evidence from children treated for dense cataracts. Cognitive Development, 42, 27-36.
  8. Skelton AE, Maule J, Franklin A. Infant colour perception: Insight into perceptual development. Child Dev Perspect. 2022 Jun;16(2):90-95. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12447. Epub 2022 Mar 21. PMID: 35915666; PMCID: PMC9314692.
  9. Fanlo Zarazaga A, Gutiérrez Vásquez J, Pueyo Royo V. Review of the main colour vision clinical assessment tests. Arch Soc Esp Oftalmol (Engl Ed). 2019 Jan;94(1):25-32. English, Spanish. doi: 10.1016/j.oftal.2018.08.006. Epub 2018 Oct 22. PMID: 30361001.
  10. Hofsten, C. V., Feng, Q., & Spelke, E. S. Object representation and predictive action in infancy. Developmental Science, 2000;3(2), 193-205.
  11. Brown AM. Development of visual sensitivity to light and colour vision in human infants: a critical review. Vision Res. 1990;30(8):1159-88. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(90)90173-i. PMID: 2205977.
  12. Mercer ME, Courage ML, Adams RJ. Contrast/colour card procedure: a new test of young infants’ colour vision. Optom Vis Sci. 1991 Jul;68(7):522-32. doi: 10.1097/00006324- 199107000-00003. PMID: 1923323.
  13. Adams RJ, Courage ML, Glynn M. A modified card procedure for measuring human infant colour vision. Optom Vis Sci. 1998 Aug;75(8):623-5. doi: 10.1097/00006324- 199808000-00029. PMID: 9734808.
  14. Mercer ME, Drodge SC, Courage ML, Adams RJ. A pseudoisochromatic test of colour vision for human infants. Vision Res. 2014 Jul;100:72-7. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2014.04.006. Epub 2014 Apr 24. PMID: 24768799.
  15. Abramov, I. & Gordon, J. “Development of colour vision in infants”. In R. Duckman (ed.) Visual Development, Diagnosis, and Treatment of the Pediatric Patient, 2016;137-162. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
  16. Singh, A. K., & Sharma, V. Commentary: Significance of early screening for colour vision in children. Indian journal of ophthalmology, 2021;69(8), 2026. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijo.IJO_648_21

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