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The VEP thresholds for full-field stimuli in dark-adapted infants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

Ronald M. Hansen  and
Anne B. Fulton
Ronald M. Hansen
Affiliation:
Department of Ophthalmology, Children's Hospital & Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston
Anne B. Fulton
Affiliation:
Department of Ophthalmology, Children's Hospital & Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston
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Abstract

Dark-adapted adults' electroretinographic b−wave thresholds are —2 log units below a−wave thresholds and ~3 log units above the perceptual threshold, and their perceptual and the visually evoked cortical potential (VEP) thresholds are similar. Dark-adapted infants' scotopic a− and b−wave thresholds for full-field stimuli are both about 0.5 log units above those of adults, but their scotopic VEP thresholds for such stimuli have not been studied. We obtained scotopic VEP thresholds for brief, full-field stimuli from dark-adapted, infants and adults to consider the relationships of the cortical responses to the responses of more distal structures, namely the rod photoreceptors (scotopic a−wave) and ON-bipolars (scotopic b−wave). The median VEP threshold of infants is 0.5 log unit above that of adults. Thus, the relationships of a− and b−wave and VEP thresholds in infants are similar to those in adults. These results are consistent with rod cell immaturities being the primary determinant of the difference between infants' and adults' thresholds.

Keywords

Human developmentRodsScotopic thresholdsVisual evoked cortical potential (VEP)
Type
Research Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , March 1995 , pp. 223 - 228
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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