Temporal summation in dark-adapted 10-week old infants

Vision Res. 1991;31(7-8):1259-69. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(91)90050-f.

Abstract

The effect of stimulus duration on the b-wave and psychophysical responses of dark-adapted 10-week-old infants and adult control subjects is reported. Both infant and adult b-wave sensitivities vary with stimulus duration, show summation for brief duration stimuli, critical durations estimated at 88-155 msec, and little variation in sensitivity for longer durations. There are however, substantial differences between the infant and adult psychophysical temporal summation functions. The infant function is described by a straight line, slope about -0.5, across all flash durations while adults show summation at durations less than 100 msec and critical durations of 136 to 151 msec. Adult, but not infant, b-wave integration times and b-wave rise and fall times show duration-dependent changes. Thus, both ERG and psychophysical measures demonstrate immaturities in the rod mediated function of the infant retina.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Dark Adaptation / physiology*
  • Electroretinography
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Photometry
  • Psychophysics
  • Retina / physiology*
  • Sensory Thresholds / physiology
  • Time Factors