I bet you didn't know that some women are able to see more colours because of an additional 4th receptor in their eyes. A normal human being only has 3 colour receptors but those that have only 2 are colour blind.A recent paper by Kimberly Jameson, Susan Highnote and Linda Wasserman of the University of California, San Diego, concerning females who may have tetrachromacy shows amazing results. Up to 50 per cent of women are tetrachromatic and can use their extra pigments in "contextually rich viewing circumstances". For example, when looking at a rainbow, tetrachromat females can segment it into, on average, 10 different colours, whereas their trichromat brothers and sisters can see only seven, much as Isaac Newton's red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Consequently, for those special tetrachromat women, this island that they inhabit may be seen in emerald, jade, verdant, olive, lime, bottle and 34 other shades of green. Apparently, men and women do see the world differently.
And that would explain why woman are better at colour matching their clothes. You can find more information about tetrachromats after the jump.
Source: Wobbly Universe
Image: Chris & Lara Pawluk / Flickr
Tags: Receptor | Eye | Colour
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