title: Pattern electroretinogram elicited by a dartboard pattern.
abstract: The receptive field size of retinal ganglion cells is closely related to their eccentricity from the fovea. To elicit larger pattern-reversal electroretinograms (P-ERGs), it may be useful to stimulate the retina with patterns having elements that parallel this change in receptive field size. We describe a dartboard pattern consisting of reversal elements that enlarge gradually from the central to the peripheral stimulus field. The utility of the dartboard pattern for eliciting P-ERG was investigated by comparing it with the conventional uniform checkerboard pattern, but with the other stimulus parameters remaining unchanged (96% contrast, 35.9 cd/m2 mean luminance, 3.3 rev/s temporal frequency, 15 degrees circular field). The dartboard pattern produced a significantly larger P50 amplitude than did the checkerboard pattern, while no difference in peak latency was found when 54 min of arc was used as a standard check size for the checkerboard pattern. The dartboard pattern for eliciting P-ERG should prove clinically useful.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, National Defense Medical College, Saitama-ken, Japan. masaruy@mb.infoweb.jp.or
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshii
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yanashima
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nozawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okisaka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004596:Electroretinography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000502:physiology