Population activity changes during a trial-to-trial adaptation of bullfrog retinal ganglion cells

A 'trial-to-trial adaptation' of bullfrog retinal ganglion cells in response to a repetitive light stimulus was investigated in the present study. Using the multielectrode recording technique, we studied the trial-to-trial adaptive properties of ganglion cells and explored the activity of population neurons during this adaptation process. It was found that the ganglion cells adapted with different degrees: their firing rates were decreased in different extents from early-adaptation to late-adaptation stage, and this was accompanied by a decrease in cross-correlation strength. In addition, adaptation behavior was different for ON-response and OFF-response, which implied that the mechanism of the trial-to-trial adaptation might involve bipolar cells and/or their synapses with other neurons and the stronger adaptation in the ganglion cells' OFF-responses might reflect the requirement to avoid possible saturation in the OFF circuit.