Multifocal ERG responses in infants.
OBJECTIVE
To assess function of the central retina in 10-week-old infants, multifocal electroretinograms (mfERGs) were recorded. mfERG responses represent postreceptor retinal activity.


METHODS
In infants (n = 23) and adults (n = 10), mfERG responses to both unscaled and scaled 61 hexagon arrays were recorded. Amplitude and implicit time of negative (N(1), N(2)) and positive (P(1)) peaks of the first-order kernel were examined. The response from the entire area stimulated and responses to concentric rings were analyzed separately. The overall averaged response of the first slice of the second-order kernel was also evaluated. Results from infants and adults were compared.


RESULTS
Amplitudes of the infants' responses (N(1), P(1), N(2)) were significantly smaller and implicit times were significantly longer than those of adults. In infants, amplitude and implicit time varied little with eccentricity. In adults, amplitude decreased with eccentricity, whereas implicit time varied little. In infants, the second-order kernel was relatively more attenuated than the first-order kernel.


CONCLUSIONS
The infants' mfERG responses indicated immaturities of processing in the central retina. Infant-adult differences in the distribution of cones and bipolar cells may account for the results.
Hansen
Ronald M
RM
Department of Ophthalmology, Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ronald.hansen@childrens.harvard.edu
Moskowitz
Anne
A
Fulton
Anne B
AB
D000328:Adult; D004596:Electroretinography; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology*; D051245:Retinal Bipolar Cells / Q000502:physiology; D017949:Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology