Analysis of the photopic electroretinogram recorded before and after dark adaptation

To evaluate the effect of a long period of dark adaptation on the light-adapted electroretinogram (ERG), photopic ERGs were recorded before (light-adapted) and immediately after (light-readapted) 15 minutes of dark adaptation. The amplitude of the b-wave in the light-readapted ERG was 48% +/- 4% of that in the light-adapted ERG, and the peak time of the b-wave in the light-readapted ERG was delayed by an average of 3.49 +/- 1.09 ms. Segmental analysis of the b-wave showed that the last segment of the ascending limb of the b-wave (from the second oscillatory potential [OP] to the peak) was attenuated the most (61% +/- 8%). In fact, the reduction in the amplitude of the last segment alone accounted for more than 60% +/- 13% of the overall reduction observed for the entire b-wave. This last segment appears to correspond to OP4 in the 100- to 1000-Hz recordings. The amplitude of OP4 in the light-readapted ERG was 56.5% +/- 10% of that in the light-adapted ERG, a similar reduction to that observed for the last segment of the 1- to 1000-Hz b-wave. The results strongly support the concept that the b-wave of the photopic ERG may actually represent a composite of potentials whose individual contributions are best visualized when the ERG is recorded with the 100- to 1000-Hz bandwidth.