Visual evoked potential correlates of laser flashblindness in rhesus monkeys I. Argon laser flashes

The visual evoked potential (VEP) in four rhesus monkeys was used to assess the transient loss of visual function resulting from single 100-ms argon laser flashes (476.5 and 514.5 nm) whose energy levels did not exceed the maximum permissible exposure (MPE). VEP's were elicited by high-contrast square-wave test gratings which were phase-reversed at a frequency of 6 Hz, and were recorded using bipolar electrodes implanted in the foveal projection region of area 17. The parameters which were investigated included (1) flash size (focused vs. expanded), (2) position of the electrode's receptive field relative to the position of the flash (0, 1.5, 3.0, and 4.5-deg separation), (3) flash exposure level (50, 5.0, and 0.5% of the MPE), (4) peak wavelength of the test grating (454, 540, and 630 nm), and (5) spatial frequency of the test grating (1.0, 4.0, 6.0, and 12.0 c/deg). The results of the flash-size experiment revealed that the expanded flash, whose retinal diameter was approximately 750 microns, eliminated or severely attenuated the VEP for a longer duration than did the focused flash and also resulted in a more gradual recovery function. The combined results of the flash position and energy level experiments indicated that the effective energy of the focused flash declined rapidly beyond 1.5 deg, but still approximated 4% of its maximum value as far as 4.5 deg from its center. Few, if any, wavelength-specific effects were observed after exposure to either the 476.5- or 514.5-nm flashes, even when the energy of the flashes was reduced to a small fraction of the MPE. Finally, the flash effect was considerably longer in duration for the 12.0 c/deg grating relative to the low and intermediate frequency gratings. In general, the findings suggest that the focused and expanded argon laser flashes produce a VEP suppression whose time course and other characteristics correlate well with those associated with behaviorally observed flashblindness in humans after exposure to intense noncoherent flashes.