title: Differential responses to high-frequency electrical stimulation in ON and OFF retinal ganglion cells.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The field of retinal prosthetics for artificial vision has advanced considerably in recent years, however clinical outcomes remain inconsistent. The performance of retinal prostheses is likely limited by the inability of electrical stimuli to preferentially activate different types of retinal ganglion cell (RGC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Here we examine the response of rabbit RGCs to high-frequency stimulation, using biphasic pulses applied at 2000 pulses per second. Responses were recorded using cell-attached patch clamp methods, and stimulation was applied epiretinally via a small cone electrode.
  
  
  RESULTS
  When prolonged stimulus trains were applied to OFF-brisk transient (BT) RGCs, the cells exhibited a non-monotonic relationship between response strength and stimulus amplitude; this response pattern was different from those elicited previously by other electrical stimuli. When the amplitude of the stimulus was modulated transiently from a non-zero baseline amplitude, ON-BT and OFF-BT cells exhibited different activity patterns: ON cells showed an increase in activity while OFF cells exhibited a decrease in activity. Using a different envelope to modulate the amplitude of the stimulus, we observed the opposite effect: ON cells exhibited a decrease in activity while OFF cells show an increase in activity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As ON and OFF RGCs often exhibit opposing activity patterns in response to light stimulation, this work suggests that high-frequency electrical stimulation of RGCs may be able to elicit responses that are more physiological than traditional pulsatile stimuli. Additionally, the prospect of an electrical stimulus capable of cell-type specific selective activation has broad applications throughout the fields of neural stimulation and neuroprostheses.
authors.affiliation: VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA. Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Perry
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Twyford
authors.forename: Changsi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Shelley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fried
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011817:Rabbits; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000502:physiology*