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Contribution of the retinal ON channels to scotopic and photopic spectral sensitivity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

Earl L. Smith III ,
Ronald S. Harwerth ,
M.L.J. Crawford  and
Gary C. Duncan
Earl L. Smith III*
Affiliation:
College of Optometry, University of Houston, Houston
Ronald S. Harwerth
Affiliation:
College of Optometry, University of Houston, Houston
M.L.J. Crawford
Affiliation:
Sensory Sciences Center, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston
Gary C. Duncan
Affiliation:
College of Optometry, University of Houston, Houston
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Earl L. Smith, III, College of Optometry, University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Blvd., Houston, TX 77204-6052, USA.
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Abstract

Visual information encoded by the middle-wavelength-sensitive (MWS) and long-wavelength-sensitive (LWS) cones in the primate retina are processed by both depolarizing (ON) and hyperpolarizing (OFF) bipolar cells. In contrast, signals from the short-wavelength-sensitive (SWS) cones and dark-adapted rod photoreceptors are thought to be carried almost exclusively by ON bipolar cells (Gouras & Evers, 1985). Consequently, it would be expected that functional inactivation of the retinal ON channels at the bipolar cell level would produce selective deficits in visual functions mediated by rods and SWS cones. We have examined this hypothesis by injecting rhesus monkeys with 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (APB), a pharmacological agent that reduces the responsiveness of retinal ON neurons, and psychophysically measuring the changes in spectral sensitivities. Under adaptation conditions that isolated rod function, APB caused, as expected, a substantial loss in rod-mediated spectral sensitivity. However, under photopic conditions, cone-mediated spectral sensitivity, including that associated with the SWS cones, was relatively unaffected. These results demonstrate distinct organizational differences between the rod and cone systems; specifically, they indicate that the rod system is more dependent upon retinal ON channels than the cone system. Our failure to find a selective visual deficit related to SWS cone function under photopic viewing conditions suggests that the OFF system can mediate stimulus detection throughout the visible spectrum and that the ability of the OFF system to process signals from the SWS cones has been underestimated.

Keywords

Retinal ON pathways2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (APB)Spectral sensitivityRod and cone visionPsychophysics
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , September 1989 , pp. 225 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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