Abstract
Purpose
To determine the effect of the spatial frequency of a small grating stimulus centered on the macula on the focal macular ERGs (fmacERGs) of monkeys.
Methods
fmacERGs were recorded from eight eyes of four adult monkeys (Macaca fuscata). The spatial frequency of the stimulus was changed from 0.25 to 8 cycles/degree. The luminance of the light bars was 10 cd/m2, and the contrast was 95%. The stimulus was flashed on and off with an on duration of 100 ms and an off duration of 150 ms (4 Hz). The stimulus was centered on the fovea and subtended 12.7° at the cornea. The luminance of the steady light-adapting background was 3.5 cd/m2. The location of the stimulus on the retina was monitored throughout the recordings. The effects of the spatial frequency of the stimulus on the amplitudes and implicit times of the a-waves, b-waves, and oscillatory potentials (OPs) were determined. fmacERGs were also recorded following intravitreal tetrodotoxin (TTX).
Results
The amplitudes of the a- and b-waves did not change with changes in the spatial frequency of the stimulus. The OPs, on the other hand, responded best to the lowest spatial frequency, and the OPs after the first two were attenuated at intermediate and higher frequencies (Wilcoxon signed-rank test: P < 0.05). TTX reduced all OP wavelets in monkeys.
Conclusions
The OPs of the photopic macular ERGs are affected by the spatial frequency of the stimulus and are reduced by TTX, consistent with their being generated by inner retinal neurons.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Sieving PA, Murayama K, Naarendorp F (1994) Push-pull model of the primate photopic electroretinogram: a role for hyperpolarizing neurons in shaping the b-wave. Vis Neurosci 11:519–532
Shiells RA, Falk G (1999) Contribution of rod, on-bipolar, and horizontal cell light responses to the ERG of dogfish retina. Vis Neurosci 16:503–511
Friedburg C, Allen CP, Mason PJ, Lamb TD (2004) Contribution of cone photoreceptors and post-receptoral mechanisms to the human photopic electroretinogram. J Physiol 556:819–834
Ueno S, Kondo M, Niwa Y, Terasaki H, Miyake Y (2004) Luminance dependence of neural components that underlies the primate photopic electroretinogram. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 45:1033–1040
Viswanathan S, Frishman LJ, Robson JG, Harwerth RS, Smith EL, III (1999) The photopic negative response of the macaque electroretinogram: reduction by experimental glaucoma. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 40:1124–1136
Viswanathan S, Frishman LJ, Robson JG, Walters JW (2001) The photopic negative response of the flash electroretinogram in primary open angle glaucoma. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 42:514–522
Heynen H, Wachtmeister L, van Norren D (1985) Origin of the oscillatory potentials in the primate retina. Vision Res 25:1365–1373
Karwoski C, Kawasaki K (1991) Oscillatory potentials. In: Heckenlively JR, Arden GB (eds) Handbook of clinical electrophysiology of vision testing, Mosby Year Book, St Louis
Ogden TE (1973) The oscillatory waves of the primate electroretinogram. Vision Res 13:1059–1074
Heynen H, van Norren D (1985) Origin of the electroretinogram in the intact macaque eye–II. Current source-density analysis. Vision Res. 25:709–715
Wachtmeister L (1998) Oscillatory potentials in the retina: what do they reveal. Prog Retin Eye Res 17:485–521
Hamasaki DI, Tucker GS, Maguire GW (1990) Alterations of the cat’s electroretinogram induced by the lesioning of the indoleamine-accumulating amacrine cells. Ophthalmic Res. 22:19–30
Bui BV, Fortune B (2004) Ganglion cell contributions to the rat full-field electroretinogram. J Physiol 555:153–173
Rangaswamy NV, Zhou W, Harwerth RS, Frishman LJ (2006) Effect of experimental glaucoma in primates on oscillatory potentials of the slow-sequence mfERG. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 47:753–767
Seiple WH, Siegel IM, Carr RE, Mayron C (1986) Evaluating macular function using the focal ERG. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 27:1123–1130
Fish GE, Birch DG (1989) The focal electroretinogram in the clinical assessment of macular disease. Ophthalmology 96:109–114
Brodie SE, Naidu EM, Goncalves J (1992) Combined amplitude and phase criteria for evaluation of macular electroretinograms. Ophthalmology 99:522–530
Miyake Y, Shiroyama N, Ota I, Horiguchi M (1988) Oscillatory potentials in electroretinograms of the human macular region. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 29:1631–1635
Miyake Y, Shiroyama N, Horiguchi M, Ota I (1989) Asymmetry of focal ERG in human macular region. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 30:1743–1749
Matsumoto C, Imaizumi M, Nakatsuka K (1999) Construction of a focal electroretinography photostimulator device using a slit-lamp microscope. Folia Ophthalmol Jpn. 50:437–442
Hood DC, Seiple W, Holopigian K, Greenstein V (1997) A comparison of the components of the multifocal and full-field ERGs. Vis Neurosci. 14:533–544
Bearse MA Jr., Shimada Y, Sutter EE (2000) Distribution of oscillatory components in the central retina. Doc Ophthalmol. 100:185–205
Rangaswamy NV, Hood DC, Frishman LJ (2003) Regional variations in local contributions to the primate photopic flash ERG: revealed using the slow-sequence mfERG. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 44:3233–3247
Baker CL Jr, Hess RF (1984) Linear and nonlinear components of human electroretinogram. J Neurophysiol 51:952–967
Hess RF, Baker CL Jr (1984) Human pattern-evoked electroretinogram. J Neurophysiol 51:939–951
Vaegan, Arden GB (1987) Effect of pattern luminance profile on the pattern ERG in man and pigeon. Vision Res 27:883–892
Falsini B, Porciatti V, Bolzani R, Marchionni A (1991) Spatial-frequency-dependent changes in the human pattern electroretinogram after acute acetyl-L-carnitine administration. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 229:262–266
Viswanathan S, Frishman LJ, Robson JG (2000) The uniform field and pattern ERG in macaques with experimental glaucoma: removal of spiking activity. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 41:2797–2810
Fortune B, Bui BV, Cull G, Wang L, Cioffi GA (2004) Inter-ocular and inter-session reliability of the electroretinogram photopic negative response (PhNR) in non-human primates. Exp Eye Res 78:83–93
Bloomfield SA (1996) Effect of spike blockade on the receptive-field size of amacrine and ganglion cells in the rabbit retina. J Neurophysiol 75:1878–1893
Stafford DK, Dacey DM (1997) Physiology of the A1 amacrine: a spiking, axon-bearing interneuron of the macaque monkey retina. Vis Neurosci 14:507–522
Hare WA, Ton H (2002) Effects of APB, PDA, and TTX on ERG responses recorded using both multifocal and conventional methods in monkey. Effects of APB, PDA, and TTX on monkey ERG responses. Doc Ophthalmol 105:189–222
Dong CJ, Agey P, Hare WA (2004) Origins of the electroretinogram oscillatory potentials in the rabbit retina. Vis Neurosci. 21:533–543
Hood DC, Greenstein V, Frishman L, Holopigian K, Viswanathan S, Seiple W, Ahmed J, Robson JG (1999) Identifying inner retinal contributions to the human multifocal ERG. Vision Res 39:2285–2291
Rangaswamy NV, Frishman LJ, Dorotheo EU, Schiffman JS, Bahrani HM, Tang RA (2004) Photopic ERGs in patients with optic neuropathies: comparison with primate ERGs after pharmacologic blockade of inner retina. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 45:3827–3837
Hood DC, Bearse MA Jr, Sutter EE, Viswanathan S, Frishman LJ (2001) The optic nerve head component of the monkey’s (Macaca mulatta) multifocal electroretinogram (mERG). Vision Res 41:2029–2041
Frishman LJ, Shen FF, Du L, Robson JG, Harwerth RS, Smith EL III, Carter-Dawson L, Crawford ML (1996) The scotopic electroretinogram of macaque after retinal ganglion cell loss from experimental glaucoma. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 37:125–41
Vaegan, Graham SL, Goldberg I, Buckland L, Hollows FC (1995) Flash and pattern electroretinogram changes with optic atrophy and glaucoma. Exp Eye Res 60:697–706
Hare WA, Ton H, Ruiz G, Feldmann B, Wijono M, WoldeMussie E (2001) Characterization of retinal injury using ERG measures obtained with both conventional and multifocal methods in chronic ocular hypertensive primates. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 42:127–136
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Prof. Duco Hamasaki, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA, and Prof. Geoffrey B Arden, IOVS volunteer editor, Henry Wellcome Laboratories, Applied Vision Research Centre, Department of Optometry and Visual Science, City University, London, UK, for editing and reviewing the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yamada, K., Matsumoto, C.S. & Nakatsuka, K. Effect of spatial frequency of stimulus on focal macular ERGs in monkeys. Doc Ophthalmol 113, 83–91 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10633-006-9017-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10633-006-9017-x