Visual Mode Switching in Color Perception

January 12, 2026 updated by: University of Minnesota
Participants will be given experience wearing colored lenses that add a tint to the environment. Changes in visual perception and neural processing that arise as a result of this experience will be measured. These are expected as participants learn to switch to "colored lenses mode" where the effects of the lenses are discounted and colors appear more normal as soon as the lenses are put on.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Withdrawn

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

All participants will wear tinted lenses for 1 hour at a time, 5 times per day. Perception (behavior) and neural function (with functional MRI and EEG) before and after this experience will be measured. In the neural measurements, activity will be recorded while participants view stripes of many different colors both with the lenses on and off. In the perceptual measurements, participants will adjust the color of a small patch to appear neutral, neither red nor green. Behavior will be measured in a variety of conditions to test different hypotheses about the origins of the mode-switching effects. These include: 1) surrounding the patch with different colors, 2) preceding the presentation of the patch with presentation of different colors, 3) presenting the tests in a red-illuminated room, 4) presenting the tests in a completely darkened room, and 5) using a head-mount-display (virtual reality goggles) to present simulated lenses that gradually change in strength.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Stephen A Engel, Ph.D.
  • Phone Number: 952-625-5571
  • Email: engel@umn.edu

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Minnesota
      • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55455
        • University of Minnesota

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Normal or corrected to normal vision by contact lenses
  • No known visual disorders
  • Little to no experience in tinted environments (e.g. dark rooms, swimming goggles)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Abnormal color vision

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Color Contrast
Test patch is surrounded spatially by different colors
Behavioral: Mode Switching Training
Wear of colored lenses for 1 hr, 5 times per day, for 5 days
Experimental: Color Adaptation
Test patch is surrounded temporally (preceded) by different colors
Behavioral: Mode Switching Training
Wear of colored lenses for 1 hr, 5 times per day, for 5 days
Experimental: Neuroimaging
Functional MRI and Electroencephelography data are acquired for multiple test colors
Behavioral: Mode Switching Training
Wear of colored lenses for 1 hr, 5 times per day, for 5 days
Experimental: Red Room
Participants are tested in a red-illuminated room
Behavioral: Mode Switching Training
Wear of colored lenses for 1 hr, 5 times per day, for 5 days
Experimental: Dark Room
Participants are tested in a completely darkened room
Behavioral: Mode Switching Training
Wear of colored lenses for 1 hr, 5 times per day, for 5 days
Experimental: Gradual Change
Participants view a gradual change in tint, presented on a head-mounted display
Behavioral: Mode Switching Training
Wear of colored lenses for 1 hr, 5 times per day, for 5 days

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in unique yellow settings
Time Frame: Change will be assessed over the entire study, by comparing a pre-test the day before the intevention (which lasts 5 days) to a post-test the day after the intervention.
This is a standard psychophysical measure referenced in 100s of papers. Participants adjust a patch of color until it appears neither red nor green and this color is reported in standard colorimetric coordinates (e.g. CIE).
Change will be assessed over the entire study, by comparing a pre-test the day before the intevention (which lasts 5 days) to a post-test the day after the intervention.
Change in BOLD functional MRI activity
Time Frame: Change will be assessed over the entire study, by comparing a pre-test the day before the intevention (which lasts 5 days) to a post-test the day after the intervention.
Neural activation will be measured with functional MRI which will be used to measure BOLD activity with standard methods, and reported as percent change from rest, a standard measure, for each voxel in the brain.
Change will be assessed over the entire study, by comparing a pre-test the day before the intevention (which lasts 5 days) to a post-test the day after the intervention.
Change in EEG activity
Time Frame: Change will be assessed over the entire study, by comparing a pre-test the day before the intevention (which lasts 5 days) to a post-test the day after the intervention.
Neural activity will be measured with electroencephelography using standard techniques and will be reported as voltage changes over time for each electrode in a standard configuration.
Change will be assessed over the entire study, by comparing a pre-test the day before the intevention (which lasts 5 days) to a post-test the day after the intervention.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Minnesota

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
February 4, 2031

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
February 4, 2032

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 20, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 18, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
March 22, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
January 14, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 12, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • STUDY00002354

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Completely deidentified data, meta-data, stimulus presentation code, and analysis code will be shared following an NIH data sharing plan. Data will be shared using the OSF platform, as well as github for code.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Data will be available for at least 10 years, starting at publication date or end of the study.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Publicly accessible

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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