Temporal summation in dark-adapted 10-week old infants

doi:10.1016/0042-6989(91)90050-F

Vision Research

Volume 31, Issues 7–8, 1991, Pages 1259-1269

https://doi.org/10.1016/0042-6989(91)90050-F Get rights and content

Abstract

The effect of stimulus duration on the b-wave and psychophysical responses of dark-adapted 10-week-old infants and adult control subjects is reported. Both infant and adult b-wave sensitivities vary with stimulus duration, show summation for brief duration stimuli, critical durations estimated at 88–155 msec, and little variation in sensitivity for longer durations. There are, however, substantial differences between the infant and adult psychophysical temporal summation functions. The infant function is described by a straight line, slope about −0.5, across all flash durations while adults show summation at durations < 100 msec and critical durations of 136 to 151 msec. Adult, but not infant, b-wave integration times and b-wave rise and fall times show duration-dependent changes. Thus, both ERG and psychophysical measures demonstrate immaturities in the rod mediated function of the infant retina.

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At least five alternations of response type (correct, incorrect) are obtained. Control experiments show good agreement between thresholds estimated using the staircase and those estimated using the method of constant stimuli (Fulton et al., 1991; Hansen et al., 1986). The size, duration, wavelength, and eccentricity of the stimuli are selected as required in the different studies.
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Thresholds are determined using a transformed up-down staircase that efficiently estimates the 70.7% correct point of the psychometric function (Wetherill and Levitt, 1965). There is good agreement between thresholds estimated using this rapid staircase and using the method of constant stimuli (Hansen et al., 1986; Fulton et al., 1991b). Stimulus parameters (size, duration, spectral composition, and eccentricity) are chosen based on the experiment at hand.
The continuing worldwide epidemic of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a leading cause of childhood visual impairment, strongly motivates further research into mechanisms of the disease. Although the hallmark of ROP is abnormal retinal vasculature, a growing body of evidence supports a critical role for the neural retina in the ROP disease process. The age of onset of ROP coincides with the rapid developmental increase in rod photoreceptor outer segment length and rhodopsin content of the retina with escalation of energy demands. Using a combination of non-invasive electroretinographic (ERG), psychophysical, and image analysis procedures, the neural retina and its vasculature have been studied in prematurely born human subjects, both with and without ROP, and in rats that model the key vascular and neural parameters found in human ROP subjects. These data are compared to comprehensive numeric summaries of the neural and vascular features in normally developing human and rat retina. In rats, biochemical, anatomical, and molecular biological investigations are paired with the non-invasive assessments. ROP, even if mild, primarily and persistently alters the structure and function of photoreceptors. Post-receptor neurons and retinal vasculature, which are intimately related, are also affected by ROP; conspicuous neurovascular abnormalities disappear, but subtle structural anomalies and functional deficits may persist years after clinical ROP resolves. The data from human subjects and rat models identify photoreceptor and post-receptor targets for interventions that promise improved outcomes for children at risk for ROP.
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Growth of the eye and development of the retina continue after birth. Development of the optic nerve, the visual pathways, and the visual cortex continue well into childhood. Along with the development of these structures, visual processes mature. The behavioral repertoire is immature during infancy and childhood; therefore, specialized procedures are needed to evaluate visual function in pediatric subjects. These procedures have been used to demonstrate normal maturation of acuity, retinal sensitivity, and other visual functions. Adaptations of these procedures have been used to study pediatric patients. Acuity is the most commonly measured visual function. In psychophysical tests, the subject's ability to detect, discriminate, or resolve a pattern is assessed. In electrophysiological studies, the ability of the pattern to evoke a reliable response is determined. Carefully specified patterns, such as stripes or checks, are the stimuli used to test infants and younger children or patients with disabilities.
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Temporal summation in dark-adapted 10-week old infants

Abstract

Vision Research

Vision Research

Vision Research

Vision Research

Vision Research

Vision Research

Infant Behavioral Development

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Vision Research

Luminance-duration relationship in the electric response of the human retina

Journal of the Optical Society of America

Temporal and spatial summation in human vision at different background intensities

Journal of Physiology, London

Detection and resolution of visual stimuli by turtle photoreceptors

Journal of Physiology, London

The photocurrent, noise and spectral sensitivity of rods of the monkey macaco fasicularis

Journal of Physiology, London

Saturation of rod-initiated signals in two-month-old human infants

Journal of the Optical Society of America A