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Post-receptoral contributions to the rat scotopic electroretinogram a-wave

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Abstract

The electroretinogram is a widely used objective measure of visual function. The best characterised feature of the full-field dark-adapted flash ERG, is the earliest corneal negativity, the a-wave, which primarily reflects photoreceptoral responses. However, recent studies in humans and primates show that there are post-receptoral contributions to the a-wave. It is not clear if such contributions exist in the rat a-wave. We consider this issue in the rat a-wave, using intravitreal application of pharmacological agents that isolate post-receptoral ON-pathways and OFF-pathways. In anaesthetised adult long Evans rats, we show that the ON-pathway (2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid, APB sensitive) makes negligible contribution to the a-wave. In contrast, CNQX (6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione) or PDA (cis-piperidine-2,3-dicarboxylic acid) sensitive mechanisms modify the a-wave in two ways. First, for bright luminous energies, OFF-pathway inhibition (CNQX or PDA) results in a 22% reduction to the early phase of the leading edge of the a-wave up to 14 ms. Second, OFF-pathway inhibition removed a corneal negativity that resides between the a-wave trough and the b-wave onset.

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Abbreviations

ERG:

Electroretinogram

APB:

2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid

CNQX:

6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione

PDA:

cis-piperidine-2,3-dicarboxylic acid

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Acknowledgments

NHMRC CJ Martin Postdoctoral Fellowship (BVB), NHMRC project grant 400127 (BVB).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Trung M. Dang, Tina I. Tsai, Algis J. Vingrys & Bang V. Bui

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  1. Trung M. Dang
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  2. Tina I. Tsai
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  3. Algis J. Vingrys
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  4. Bang V. Bui
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Correspondence to Bang V. Bui.

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Dang, T.M., Tsai, T.I., Vingrys, A.J. et al. Post-receptoral contributions to the rat scotopic electroretinogram a-wave. Doc Ophthalmol 122, 149–156 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10633-011-9269-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10633-011-9269-y

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