Abstract
It seems that much of the adaptational behavior of the overall visual system may be explicable in terms of properties of the rod and cone photoreceptors. This paper reviews the properties of vertebrate photoreceptors within the framework of the performance of the visual system and attempts to explore those aspects of photoreceptor adaptation which may be important at the behavioral level. For convenience it is useful to consider separately the phenomena of background adaptation and bleaching adaptation, as quite different mechanisms appear to be involved. Background adaptation involves desensitization and acceleration of the response to light, probably as a result of modifications to the transduction process at the level of biochemical reactions. During bleaching adaptation, which follows exposure to extremely intense light, the rod photoreceptors appear to experience something equivalent to the arrival of a steam of photons, and it is conceivable that the adaptational effects are essentially the same as if a real light had been absorbed. The equivalent light may originate from reverse reactions in the chain of steps involved in the removal of activated rhodopsin.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aguilar, M., and Stiles, W.S. 1954. Saturation of the rod mechanism at high levels of stimulation. Optica Acta 1: 59–65.
Alpern, M. 1971. Rhodopsin kinetics in the human eye. J. Physiol. 217: 447–471.
Alpern, M.; Rushton, W.A.H.; and Torii, S. 1970. The attenuation of rod signals by bleachings. J. Physiol. 207: 449–461.
Barlow, H.B. 1957. Increment thresholds at low intensities considered as signal noise discriminations. J. Physiol. 136: 469–488.
Barlow, H.B. 1962. Measurements of the quantum efficiency of discrimination in human scotopic vision. J. Physiol. 160: 169–188.
Barlow, H.B. 1964. Dark-adaptation: a new hypothesis. Vision Res. 4: 47–58.
Barlow, H.B. 1972. Dark and light adaptation: Psychophysics. In Handbook of Sensory Physiology, eds. D. Jameson and L.M. Hurvich, vol. VII-4, pp. 1–28. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Bastian, B.L., and Fain, G.L. 1979. Light-adaptation in toad rods: requirement for an internal messenger which is not calcium. J. Physiol. 242: 729–758.
Baylor, D.A., and Hodgkin, A.L. 1974. Changes in time scale and sensitivity in turtle photoreceptors. J. Physiol. 242: 729–758.
Baylor, D.A.; Hodgkin, A.L.; and Lamb, T.D. 1974. Reconstruction of the electrical responses of turtle cones to flashes and steps of light. J. Physiol. 242: 759–791.
Baylor, D.A.; Matthews, G.; and Yau, K.-W. 1980. Two components of electrical dark noise in retinal rod outer segments. J. Physiol. 309: 591–621.
Baylor, D.A.; Matthews, G.; and Yau, K.-W. 1983. Temperature effects on the membrane current of retinal rods of the toad. J. Physiol. 337: 723–734.
Baylor, D.A.; Nunn, B.J.; and Schnapf, J. 1984. The photocurrent, noise and spectral sensitivity of rods of the monkey Macaca fascicularis. J. Physiol. 357: 575–607.
Bonds, A.B., and MacLeod, D.I.A. 1974. The bleaching and regeneration of rhodopsin in the cat. J. Physiol. 242: 237–253.
Clack, J.W., and Pepperberg, D.R. 1982. Desensitization of skate photoreceptors by bleaching and background light. J. Gen. Physiol. 80: 863–883.
Craik, K.J.W. 1938. The effect of adaptation on differential brightness discrimination. J. Physiol. 92: 406–421.
Crawford, B.H. 1947. Visual adaptation in relation to brief conditioning stimuli. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B 134: 238–302.
Donner, K.O., and Hemila, S. 1978. Excitation and adaptation in the vertebrate rod photoreceptor. Med. Biol. 56: 52–63.
Enroth-Cugell, C., and Shapley, R.M. 1973. Flux, not retinal illumination, is what cat retinal ganglion cells really care about. J. Physiol. 233: 311–326.
Fain, G.L. 1976. Sensitivity of toad rods: dependence on wave-length and background illumination. J. Physiol. 261: 71–101.
Fain, G.L.; Granda, A.M.; and Maxwell, J.H. 1977. The voltage signal of photoreceptors at visual threshold. Nature 265: 181–183.
Grabowski, S.R.; Pinto, L.H.; and Pak, W.L. 1972. Adaptation in retinal rods of axolotl: intracellular recordings. Science 176: 1240–1243.
Green, D.G.; Dowling, J.E.; Siegel, I.M.; and Ripps, H. 1975. Retinal mechanisms of visual adaptation in the skate. J. Gen. Physiol. 65: 483–502.
Hecht, S.; Haig, C.; and Chase, A.M. 1937. The influence of light-adaptation on subsequent dark adaptation of the eye. J. Gen. Physiol. 20: 831–850.
Kelly, D.H. 1971. Theory of flicker and transient responses. I. Uniform fields. J. Opt. Soc. Am. 61: 537–546.
Kleinschmidt, J., and Dowling, J.E. 1975. Intracellular recordings from gecko photoreceptors during light and dark adaptation. J. Gen. Physiol. 66: 617–648.
Lamb, T.D. 1980. Spontaneous quantal events induced in toad rods by pigment bleaching. Nature 287: 349–351.
Lamb, T.D. 1981. The involvement of rod photoreceptors in dark adaptation. Vision Res. 21: 1773–1782.
Lamb, T.D.; McNaughton, P.A.; and Yau, K.-W. 1981. Spatial spread of activation and background desensitization in toad rod outer segments. J. Physiol. 319: 463–496.
Lamb, T.D., and Simon, E.J. 1977. Analysis of electrical noise in turtle cones. J. Physiol. 272: 435–468.
MacLeod, D.I.A. 1978. Visual sensitivity. Ann. Rev. Psychol. 29: 613–645.
Nordby, K.; Stabell, B.; and Stabell, V. 1984. Dark-adaptation of the human rod system. Vision Res. 24: 841–849.
Normann, R.A., and Perlman, I. 1979. The effects of background illumination on the photoresponses of red and green cones. J. Physiol. 286: 509–524.
Nunn, B.J., and Baylor, D.A. 1983. Visual transduction in single photoreceptors of the monkey Macaca fascicularis. In Colour Vision, Physiology and Psychophysics, eds. J.D. Mollon and L.T. Sharpe, pp. 1–11. London: Academic.
Pepperberg, D.R.; Brown, P.K.; Lurie, M.; and Dowling, J.E. 1978. Visual pigment and photoreceptor sensitivity in the isolated skate retina. J. Gen. Physiol. 71: 369–396.
Perlman, J.I.; Nodes, B.R.; and Pepperberg, D.R. 1982. Utilization of retinoids in the bullfrog retina. J. Gen. Physiol. 80: 885–913.
Paulsen, R., and Bentrop, J. 1983. Activation of rhodopsin phosphorylation is triggered by the lumirhodopsin-metarhodopsin I transition. Nature 302: 417–419.
Pugh, E.N., Jr. 1975. Rushton’s paradox: rod adaptation after flash photolysis. J. Physiol. 248: 413–431.
Rose, A. 1948. The sensitivity performance of the human eye on an absolute scale. J. Opt. Soc. Am. 38: 196–208.
Rushton, W.A.H. 1965. The Ferrier Lecture 1962. Visual adaptation. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B 162: 20–46.
Shapley, R., and Enroth-Cugell, C. 1984. Visual adaptation and retinal gain controls. In Progress in Retinal Research, eds. N.N. Osborne and G.J. Chader, vol. 3, pp. 263–346. Oxford: Pergamon.
Stiles, W.S., and Crawford, B.H. 1932. Equivalent adaptation levels in localized retinal areas. In Report of a Joint Discussion on Vision, pp. 194–211. Physical Society of London. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Reprinted in Stiles, W.S. 1978. Mechanisms of Colour Vision. London: Academic.)
Tranchina, D.; Gordon, J.; and Shapley, R.M. 1984. Retinal light adaptation — evidence for a feedback mechanism. Nature 310: 314–316.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1986 Dr. S. Bernhard, Dahlem Konferenzen, Berlin
About this paper
Cite this paper
Lamb, T.D. (1986). Photoreceptor Adaptation — Vertebrates. In: Stieve, H. (eds) The Molecular Mechanism of Photoreception. Dahlem Workshop Reports, vol 34. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70444-4_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70444-4_16
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-70446-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-70444-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive