Visual Adaptation in the Retina of the Skate
Open Access
- 1 October 1970
- journal article
- Published by Rockefeller University Press in The Journal of general physiology
- Vol. 56 (4), 491-520
- https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.56.4.491
Abstract
The electroretinogram (ERG) and single-unit ganglion cell activity were recorded from the eyecup of the skate (Raja erinacea and R. oscellata), and the adaptation properties of both types of response compared with in situ rhodopsin measurements obtained by fundus reflectometry. Under all conditions tested, the b-wave of the ERG and the ganglion cell discharge showed identical adaptation properties. For example, after flash adaptation that bleached 80% of the rhodopsin, neither ganglion cell nor b-wave activity could be elicited for 10-15 min. Following this unresponsive period, thresholds fell rapidly; by 20 min after the flash, sensitivity was within 3 log units of the dark-adapted level. Further recovery of threshold was slow, requiring an additional 70-90 min to reach absolute threshold. Measurements of rhodopsin levels showed a close correlation with the slow recovery of threshold that occurred between 20 and 120 min of dark adaptation; there is a linear relation between rhodopsin concentration and log threshold. Other experiments dealt with the initial unresponsive period induced by light adaptation. The duration of this unresponsive period depended on the brightness of the adapting field; with bright backgrounds, suppression of retinal activity lasted 20-25 min, but sensitivity subsequently returned and thresholds fell to a steady-state value. At all background levels tested, increment thresholds were linearly related to background luminance.Keywords
This publication has 29 references indexed in Scilit:
- Increment Thresholds in Photopic Conditions in the Hooded RatNature, 1969
- Rhodopsin Regeneration in ManNature, 1969
- Visual Pigments of Three Species of Cartilaginous FishesNature, 1969
- Rhodopsin Photoproducts: Effects on Electroretinogram Sensitivity in Isolated Perfused Rat RetinaScience, 1968
- Analysis of Photopic and Scotopic Function in an Incomplete Achromat*Journal of the Optical Society of America, 1966
- Relation between Dark Adaptation and Visual Pigment RegenerationJournal of the Optical Society of America, 1964
- Effect of Instantaneous Flashes on Adaptation of the Eye: Effects of Brilliant Flashes on Light and Dark AdaptationNature, 1963
- Neural and Photochemical Mechanisms of Visual Adaptation in the RatThe Journal of general physiology, 1963
- The Problem of Visual Excitation*Journal of the Optical Society of America, 1963
- Measurement of the Light Adaptation of the RodsJournal of the Optical Society of America, 1957