Peak foveal cone densities

(after Curcio, Sloan, Kalina & Hendrickson, 1990, Table 4).

Study
Age

Density* (cones/mm2)

Spacing* (µm)
Acuity# (cycles/deg)
Østerberg (1935)
16
147,000
2.8
58.1
Hartridge(1950)
n.a.
127,000
3.0
54.3
O'Brien (1951)
n.a.
218,300
2.3
70.8
n.a.
288,600
2.0
81.4
Miller (1979)
26
128,000
3.0
54.3
Yuodelis & Hendrickson (1986)
37
208,200
2.4
67.8
72
119,900
3.1
52.5
Farber et al. (1985)
71
49,600
4.8
33.9
Ahnelt et al.( 1987)
47
238,000
2.2
74.0
72
178,000
2.6
62.6
Curcio et al. (1990)
44
311,000
1.9
84.5
27
98,200
3.4
47.5
35
120,000
3.1
52.5
34
181,800
2.5
64.6
35-L+
166,300
2.6
61.8
35-R+
190,300
2.5
66.1
36
324,100
1.9
86.3
32
181,000
2.5
64.5
Curcio & Allen (1990)
37
258,900
2.1
77.1

* Center-to-center spacing if available; otherwise calculated from reported density assuming triangular packing.

# The period of the highest spatial frequency grating is twice the angular substance of row-to-row spacing.

+ Fellow eyes; L - left eye; R - right eye.


References

Ahnelt, P.K., Kolb, H. & Pflug, R. (1987). Identification of a subtype of cone photoreceptor, likely to be blue sensitive, in the human retina. Journal of Comparative Neurology 255, 18-34.

Curcio, C.A. & Allen, K.A. (1990). Topography of ganglion cells in human retina. Journal of comparative Neurology 293, .

Curcio, C.A., Sloan, K.R., Kalina, R.E. & Hendrickson, A.E. (1990). Human photoreceptor topography. Journal of Comparative Neurology 292, 497-523.

Farber, D.B., Flannery, J.G., Lolley, R.N. & Bok, D. (1985). Distribution patterns of photoreceptors, proteins and cyclic nucleotides in the human retina. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 26, 1558-1568.

Hartridge, H. (1950). Recent advances in the physiology of vision. Philadelphia: Blakiston.

Miller, W.H. (1979). Ocular optical filtering. In: Autrum, H. (ed.), Handbook of sensory physiology, Vol VII/6A, pp. 70-143. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

O'Brien, B. (1951). Vision and resolution in the central retina. Journal of the Optical Society of America 1, 882-894.

Østerberg, G.A. (1935). Topography of the layer of rods and cones in the human retina. Acta Ophthalmologica 13 (Supplement 6) 1-97.

Yuodelis, C. & Hendrickson, A. (1986). A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the human fovea during development. Vision Research 26, 847-855.