Aversion to achromatic patterns is well documented but relatively little is known about discomfort from chromatic patterns. Large colour differences are uncommon in the natural environment and deviation from natural statistics makes images uncomfortable (Fernandez and Wilkins 2008, Perception, 37(7), 1098–113; Juricevic et al 2010, Perception, 39(7), 884–899). We report twelve studies documenting a linear increase in aversion to chromatic square-wave gratings as a function of the separation in UCS chromaticity between the component bars, independent of their luminance contrast. Two possible explanations for the aversion were investigated: (1) accommodative response, or (2) cortical metabolic demand. We found no correlation between chromaticity separation and accommodative lag or variance in lag, measured using an open-field autorefractor. However, near infrared spectroscopy of the occipital cortex revealed a larger oxyhaemoglobin response to patterns with large chromaticity separation. The aversion may be cortical in origin and does not appear to be due to accommodation.
