Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of General Physiology logoLink to The Journal of General Physiology
. 1975 Apr 1;65(4):483–502. doi: 10.1085/jgp.65.4.483

Retinal mechanisms of visual adaptation in the skate

PMCID: PMC2214926  PMID: 1151323

Abstract

Electrical potentials were recorded from different levels within the skate retina. Comparing the adaptive properties of the various responses revealed that the isolated receptor potential and the S- potential always exhibited similar changes in sensitivity, and that the b-wave and ganglion-cell thresholds acted in concert. However, the two sets of responses behaved differently under certain conditions. For example, a dimly iluminated background that had no measurable effect on the senitivities of either of the distal responses, raised significantly the thresholds of both the b-wave and the ganglion cell responses. In addition, the rate of recovery during the early, "neural" phase of dark adaptation was significantly faster for the receptor and S-potentials than for the b-wave or ganglion cell discharge. These results indicate that there is an adaptive ("network") mechanism in the retina which can influence significantly b-wave and gaglion cell activity and which behaves independently of the receptors and horizontal cells. We conclude that visual adaptation in the skate retina is regulated by a combination of receptoral and network mechanisms.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.3 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barlow H. B. Optic nerve impulses and Weber's law. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1965;30:539–546. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1965.030.01.052. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baylor D. A., Fuortes M. G., O'Bryan P. M. Receptive fields of cones in the retina of the turtle. J Physiol. 1971 Apr;214(2):265–294. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009432. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brown K. T. The eclectroretinogram: its components and their origins. Vision Res. 1968 Jun;8(6):633–677. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(68)90041-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Donner K. O., Reuter T. Visual adaptation of the rhodopsin rods in the frogs retina. J Physiol. 1968 Nov;199(1):59–87. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1968.sp008639. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dowling J. E., Ripps H. Adaptation in skate photoreceptors. J Gen Physiol. 1972 Dec;60(6):698–719. doi: 10.1085/jgp.60.6.698. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dowling J. E., Ripps H. S-potentials in the skate retina. Intracellular recordings during light and dark adaptation. J Gen Physiol. 1971 Aug;58(2):163–189. doi: 10.1085/jgp.58.2.163. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dowling J. E., Ripps H. Visual adaptation in the retina of the skate. J Gen Physiol. 1970 Oct;56(4):491–520. doi: 10.1085/jgp.56.4.491. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Enroth-Cugell C., Shapley R. M. Adaptation and dynamics of cat retinal ganglion cells. J Physiol. 1973 Sep;233(2):271–309. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1973.sp010308. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Grabowski S. R., Pinto L. H., Pak W. L. Adaptation in retinal rods of axolotl: intracellular recordings. Science. 1972 Jun 16;176(4040):1240–1243. doi: 10.1126/science.176.4040.1240. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Green D. G., Dowling J. E. Electrophysiological evidence for rod-like receptors in the gray squirrel, ground squirrel and prairie dog retinas. J Comp Neurol. 1975 Feb 15;159(4):461–472. doi: 10.1002/cne.901590403. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. KAPLAN I. T., RIPPS H. Effect on visual threshold of light outside the test area. J Exp Psychol. 1960 Nov;60:284–289. doi: 10.1037/h0041512. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kaneko A. Electrical connexions between horizontal cells in the dogfish retina. J Physiol. 1971 Feb;213(1):95–105. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009370. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Normann R. A., Werblin F. S. Control of retinal sensitivity. I. Light and dark adaptation of vertebrate rods and cones. J Gen Physiol. 1974 Jan;63(1):37–61. doi: 10.1085/jgp.63.1.37. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. RUSHTON W. A. Dark-adaptation and the regeneration of rhodopsin. J Physiol. 1961 Apr;156:166–178. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1961.sp006666. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. RUSHTON W. A. VISUAL ADAPTATION. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1965 Mar 16;162:20–46. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1965.0024. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Rushton W. A., Powell D. S. The early phase of dark adaptation. Vision Res. 1972 Jun;12(6):1083–1093. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(72)90099-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Werblin F. S., Copenhagen D. R. Control of retinal sensitivity. 3. Lateral interactions at the inner plexiform layer. J Gen Physiol. 1974 Jan;63(1):88–110. doi: 10.1085/jgp.63.1.88. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Witkovsky P., Dudek F. E., Ripps H. Slow PIII component of the carp electroretinogram. J Gen Physiol. 1975 Feb;65(2):119–134. doi: 10.1085/jgp.65.2.119. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Witkovsky P., Nelson J., Ripps H. Action spectra and adaptation properties of carp photoreceptors. J Gen Physiol. 1973 Apr;61(4):401–423. doi: 10.1085/jgp.61.4.401. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of General Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES