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The relation of the multifocal electroretinographic response to macular layer volume

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Abstract

Purpose

To determine the association of the multifocal electroretinographic (mfERG) response amplitude with the volumes of the inner, postreceptor, and photoreceptor retinal layers in the region stimulated by each mfERG element.

Methods

Sixteen healthy, young adult control subjects were studied. Each of the 103 hexagonal elements of the standard, scaled mfERG were aligned, where possible, with patches of retina imaged using optical coherence tomography. Stimuli falling on the fovea and on the optic nerve head were excluded. Linear mixed-effects modeling was then used to derive estimated coefficients (voltage/volume) for the mfERG response throughout the full 80 ms standard epoch. The resulting predicted response amplitudes originating in each layer were then compared to pharmacologically “dissected” mfERGs obtained from other studies in monkey eyes.

Results

Across the duration of the response, the amplitude of the modeled contribution from (1) the inner retina was small-to-modest, (2) the postreceptor retina was larger and contained two prominent peaks, and (3) the photoreceptor response was the largest and most closely paralleled the overall (i.e., intact) response, including late-appearing oscillations. The significance of each layer’s contribution was greatest when the absolute amplitude of that layer’s response was largest. The contribution of the inner retina was maximally significant in the interval between the prominent troughs and peaks of the intact response. The contributions of the postreceptor and photoreceptor responses were maximally significant at the prominent troughs and peaks of the intact response.

Conclusions

The results of the model were in good overall agreement with previous interpretations of the cellular contributions to the mfERG. There was also fair agreement with pharmacologically dissected monkey mfERG responses. Thus, the estimations of the contributions of the retinal layers to the mfERG so produced appeared plausible.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Boston Children’s Hospital Ophthalmology Foundation (JDA) and The National Institutes of Health EY010597 (ABF) and EY028953 (JDA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children’s Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave, Fegan 4, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Mariana I. Fonseca, Alexandra Nouck-a-Nwal, Lucia Ambrosio, Ronald M. Hansen, Anne B. Fulton & James D. Akula

  2. Behavioral Neuroscience, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Mariana I. Fonseca & Alexandra Nouck-a-Nwal

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Lucia Ambrosio, Ronald M. Hansen, Anne B. Fulton & James D. Akula

  4. Department of Ophthalmology, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Pablo Altschwager

  5. Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    James D. Akula

  6. Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Lucia Ambrosio

  7. Department of Public Health, University of Naples Federico II, Napels, Italy

    Lucia Ambrosio

Authors
  1. Mariana I. Fonseca
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  2. Alexandra Nouck-a-Nwal
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  3. Lucia Ambrosio
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  4. Pablo Altschwager
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  5. Ronald M. Hansen
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  6. Anne B. Fulton
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  7. James D. Akula
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to James D. Akula.

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The authors delcare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This study involved human participants and was approved by the ethical standards committee of Boston Children's Hospital.

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This study was conducted in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later ammendments.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants in the study.

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This article does not contain any studies with animal participants.

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Fonseca, M.I., Nouck-a-Nwal, A., Ambrosio, L. et al. The relation of the multifocal electroretinographic response to macular layer volume. Doc Ophthalmol 145, 1–10 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10633-022-09873-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10633-022-09873-z

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