摘要：S334ter-3 retinal degeneration (RD) rats have been widely used to investigate degenerativediseases of the retina. In this model, morphological and electrophysiological changes have been observed inthe retina, superior colliculus and primary visual cortex (V1). In this study, experimental rats (S334ter-3)carried one copy of the mutant transgene. We measured the extracellular responses in the primary visualcortex to three stimulus contrast levels (spontaneous activity, medium contrast, and high contrast) at thepreferred parameters of each recorded cell under classical receptive field (CRF) stimulation. Then wecompared the responses (spontaneous activity and the visual evoked responses) in RD rats with those inwildtype rats. Our results show that V1 cells in the RD group exhibit stronger spontaneous activity butweaker stimulus-evoked responses at medium and high contrasts. At the same time, compared with WTgroup, RD group also showed a natrow dynamic range. These results indicate the decrease in discriminatingthe stimuli contrast and loss in responses and lower signal to noise ratio after retina degeneration.
其他摘要：S334ter-3 retinal degeneration (RD) rats have been widely used to investigate degenerative diseases of the retina. In this model, morphological and electrophysiological changes have been observed in the retina, superior colliculus and primary visual cortex (V1). In this study, experimental rats (S334ter-3) carried one copy of the mutant transgene. We measured the extracellular responses in the primary visual cortex to three stimulus contrast levels (spontaneous activity, medium contrast, and high contrast) at the preferred parameters of each recorded cell under classical receptive field (CRF) stimulation. Then we compared the responses (spontaneous activity and the visual evoked responses) in RD rats with those in wildtype rats. Our results show that V1 cells in the RD group exhibit stronger spontaneous activity but weaker stimulus-evoked responses at medium and high contrasts. At the same time, compared with WT group, RD group also showed a narrow dynamic range. These results indicate the decrease in discriminating the stimuli contrast and loss in responses and lower signal to noise ratio after retina degeneration.
