Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41920997›Full record

ArticleScience advances2026

Focusing on color: How the eye chooses which wavelength to see best.

Benjamin M Chin, Martin S Banks, Derek Nankivil, Austin Roorda, Emily A Cooper

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Benjamin M ChinHerbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5613-568X
Martin S BanksHerbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Derek NankivilJohnson & Johnson Vision Care, Jacksonville, FL 32256, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8588-923X
Austin RoordaHerbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3785-0848
Emily A CooperHerbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4889-7446

Funding

Accommodation to polychromatic stimuliR00EY036497 · NEI · ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · PI Benjamin Ming Chin · 2025 to 2026
$498k
Accommodation to polychromatic stimuliK99EY036497 · NEI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI CHIN, BENJAMIN MING · 2024 to 2024
$104k
NEI NIH HHS K99 EY036497NEI NIH HHS R00 EY036497
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Humans can see in exquisite detail despite the fact that the eyes' optics can only focus light at a single wavelength at a time. It remains an open question what wavelength is brought into best focus by the human eye. Here, we investigate this question. We used a custom optical apparatus to measure the eye's focusing response (accommodation) to a range of stimuli with different wavelength compositions. We then developed a biologically informed model of the measured responses. Conventional wisdom holds that accommodation works to maximize visual acuity, but our findings suggest otherwise. Rather, our results support alternative lines of evidence that accommodation is guided by chromatic mechanisms that maximize signal quality in a color-opponent channel. Our results challenge prevailing views of oculomotor control and can inform therapeutic interventions for slowing the development and progression of myopia.

Indexed as

Accommodation, OcularColorHumansPhotic StimulationVisual Acuity

Identifiers

PMID41920997
PMCPMC13041754

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.