THE OSCILLATORY POTENTIAL IN THE ELECTRORETINOGRAM

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Abstract
With strong illumination, electroretinograms were rocorded in mammals (cat, rabbit and guinea pig), birds (pigeon and chicken) and cold-blooded vertebrates (tortoise, bullfrog and lamprey). All examined animals except the lamprey, showed clearly multiple wavelets comparable with the oscillatory potential in the human electroretinogram: the wavelets were superimposed on the slow waves of the electroretinogram, and spaced at a nearly equal interval with little reference to the intensity of stimulating light. The main features of the wavelets seemed to be in common with those of the oscillatory potential in the human electroretinogram. The period of the oscillatory potential was approximately 4.5, 4.5, 10, 8, 10, 20 and 45 milliseconds respectively for the cat, rabbit, guinea pig, pigeon, chicken, tortoise and bullfrog retinae. The origin of the oscillatory potential was discussed. Findings from this paper, in conjunction with other lines of evidence, indicate that the oscillatory potential is located in the bipolar cell layer or in the vicinity of this year. It is suggested that the oscillatory potential differs in the generation mechanism from the classical electroretinogram, and may actually be a distinct component of the electroretinogram.