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Age-related change in fast adaptation mechanisms measured with the scotopic full-field ERG

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Abstract

Purpose

To quantify the response dynamics of fast adaptation mechanisms of the scotopic ERG in younger and older adults using full-field m-sequence flash stimulation.

Methods

Scotopic ERGs were measured for a series of flashes separated by 65 ms over a range of 260 ms in 16 younger (20–26, 22.2 ± 2.1; range mean ±1 SD) and 16 older (65–85, 71.2 ± 7) observers without retinal pathology. A short-wavelength (λ peak = 442 nm) LED was used for scotopic stimulation, and the flashes ranged from 0.0001 to 0.01 cd s m−2. The complete binary kernel series was derived from the responses to the m-sequence flash stimulation, and the first- and second-order kernel responses were analyzed. The first-order kernel represented the response to a single, isolated flash, while the second-order kernels reflected the adapted flash responses that followed a single flash by one or more base intervals. B-wave amplitudes of the adapted flash responses were measured and plotted as a function of interstimulus interval to describe the recovery of the scotopic ERG. A linear function was fitted to the linear portion of the recovery curve, and the slope of the line was used to estimate the rate of fast adaptation recovery.

Results

The amplitudes of the isolated flash responses and rates of scotopic fast adaptation recovery were compared between the younger and older participants using a two-way ANOVA. The isolated flash responses and rates of recovery were found to be significantly lower in the older adults. However, there was no difference between the two age groups in response amplitude or recovery rate after correcting for age-related changes in the density of the ocular media.

Conclusions

These results demonstrated that the rate of scotopic fast adaptation recovery of normal younger and older adults is similar when stimuli are equated for retinal illuminance.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the NIH/National Institute on Aging (AG04058) and Research to Prevent Blindness. The authors thank Susan Garcia, Kyle McDermott, and Erich Sutter.

Funding

This study was funded by the NIH/National Institute on Aging (AG04058) and Research to Prevent Blindness.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Megan A. Tillman, Athanasios Panorgias & John S. Werner

  2. Department of Vision Science, New England College of Optometry, Boston, MA, USA

    Athanasios Panorgias

  3. Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    John S. Werner

Authors
  1. Megan A. Tillman
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  2. Athanasios Panorgias
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  3. John S. Werner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Megan A. Tillman.

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Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standard of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Statements of human rights

All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standard of the Office of Human Research Protection of the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Tillman, M.A., Panorgias, A. & Werner, J.S. Age-related change in fast adaptation mechanisms measured with the scotopic full-field ERG. Doc Ophthalmol 132, 201–212 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10633-016-9541-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10633-016-9541-2

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