AREA AND THE INTENSITY-TIME RELATION IN THE PERIPHERAL RETINA

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Abstract
Intensity-time curves were obtained for 4 different circular areas (diameters 3[degree], 1[degree], 16[image], and 2[image]) of retinal image in the periphery of the human eye. The range of durations extends from 0.00031 to 0.64 sec. For short durations, the energy per unit area (I X t) must be constant to produce threshold excitation. For longer durations, more energy is required, and the. condition for threshold excitation finally becomes I [image] Const. The absolute intensity threshold for any duration increases as area decreases. These findings confirm the results of previous workers. A decrease in the area of retinal image results in a more abrupt transition from the condition I Xt = C to I = Const, and with the smallest area the data approach the form which has been described for the activity of the single visual sense cell from the eye of Limulus. There is a discussion of interaction effects which mask the critical duration with the larger areas.

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