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A quantitative measure of the electrical activity of human rod photoreceptors using electroretinography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

Donald C. Hood  and
David G. Birch
Donald C. Hood
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York
David G. Birch
Affiliation:
Retina Foundation of the Southwest, Dallas
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Abstract

An eletrical potential recorded from the cornea, the a-wave of the ERG, is evaluated as a measure of human photoreceptor activity by comparing its behavior to a model derived from in vitro recordings from rod photoreceptors. The leading edge of the ERG exhibits both the linear and nonlinear behavior perdicted by this model. The capability for recording the electrical activity of humans photoreceptors in in vivo opens new avenues for assessing normal and abnormal receptor activity in humans. Furthermore, the quantitative model of the receptor response can be used to isolate the inner retinal contribution, Granit's PII, to the gross ERG. Based on this analysis, the practice of using the trough-to-peak amplitude of the b-wave as a proxy for the amplitude of the inner nuclear layer activity is evaluated.

Keywords

RodReceptora-waveERGHuman
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , October 1990 , pp. 379 - 387
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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