The time course of light adaptation in vertebrate retinal rods

The photoresponse of a rod wanes over time in steady illumination, as light loses its efficacy in generating the response. Such desensitization is adaptive because it extends the range of ambient light levels over which the rod signals changes in light intensity by several orders of magnitude. Adaptation begins to unfold rapidly after the onset of light with a time constant of approximately 1 s, causing the rod's sensitivity to steady light to decrease by nearly two log units. Thereafter, a much slower phase of adaptation evolves with a time constant of 9 s. During this phase the rod's sensitivity decreases by an additional log unit. Both phases are dependent upon the light-induced fall in intracellular Ca2+. The fast phase of light adaptation can be attributed to Ca2+ feedback processes regulating the lifetime ofphotoactivated rhodopsin, cGMP synthesis and sensitivity of the cGMP-gated channel to cGMP. Although the mechanism(s) of the slow phase is not yet known, it appears to include further regulation of the lifetime of photoactivated rhodopsin.