In Depth Functional Diagnostics of Mouse Models by Single Flash and Flicker Electroretinograms without Adapting Background Illumination.
Electroretinograms (ERGs) are commonly recorded at the cornea for an assessment of the functional status of the retina in mouse models. Full field ERGs can be elicited by single flash as well as flicker light stimulation although in most laboratories flicker ERGs are recorded much less frequently than singleflash ERGs. Whereas conventional single flash ERGs contain information about layers, i.e. outer and inner retina, flicker ERGs permit functional assessment of the vertical pathways of the retina, i.e. rod system, cone ON pathway, and cone OFF pathway, when the responses are evoked at a relatively high luminance (0.5 log cd s/m(2) with varying frequency (from 0.5 to 30 Hz) without any adapting background illumination. Therefore, both types of ERGs complement an in depth functional characterization of the mouse retina, allowing for a discrimination of an underlying functional pathology. Here, we introduce the systematic interpretation of the single flash and flicker ERGs by demonstrating several different patterns of functional phenotype in genetic mouse models, in which photoreceptors and/or bipolar cells are primarily or secondarily affected.
Advances in experimental medicine and biology