Rods induce transient tritanopia in blue cone monochromats
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Updated: Sep 21, 2026

Transretinal ERG Recordings from Mouse Retina: Rod and Cone Photoresponses
Published on: March 14, 2012
G Haegerstrom-Portnoy1, W A Verdon
1School of Optometry, University of California at Berkeley 94720-2020, USA. ghp@spectacle.berkeley.edu
Abstract:
Transient tritanopia is a cone-cone post-receptoral interaction between short-wavelength (S) cones and medium (M) and long (L) wavelength cones. Blue cone monochromats have rods and S cones of normal sensitivity but lack functional M/L cones. All blue cone monochromats tested (n = 8) show significant amounts of transient tritanopia mediated by rods. Attempts to find a similar rod-S cone interaction while silencing the L/M cones in normals yielded only a small amount of S cone sensitivity loss. The results suggest an exaggerated influence of rods on the S cone pathway in the retina of blue cone monochromats.
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