Retinal receptive fields under different adaptation levels studied with pattern-evoked ERG.

The pattern-evoked electroretinogram (PERG) was studied in three normal subjects under different levels of adaptation using pattern onset-offset stimulation. The occurrence of a response maximum (spatial selectivity) in the onset response at a certain spatial frequency can be interpreted as reflecting the activity of neurons having antagonistic center-surround receptive fields and allows an estimation of receptive-field center sizes. The present data suggest that in the light-adapted state, the majority of receptive fields, dominating the response can be estimated to have center diameters of 6-13 min of arc. With increasing dark adaptation, the spatial selectivity shifts from high to low spatial frequencies over 1.3-2.4 octaves, indicating that large receptive fields are active in the dark and small fields in the light. The physiological mechanisms of these changes are discussed on the basis of findings obtained from single-unit studies.