Electroretinography measures the electrical responses of various cell types in the

retina The retina (from la, rete "net") is the innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focused two-dimensional image of the visual world on the retina, which then ...

, including the photoreceptors ( rods and

cones A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines co ...

), inner retinal cells ( bipolar and amacrine cells), and the ganglion cells.

Electrode An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials ...

s are placed on the surface of the

cornea The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and lens, the cornea refracts light, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical ...

(DTL silver/nylon fiber string or ERG jet) or on the skin beneath the eye (sensor strips) to measure retinal responses.

Retinal pigment epithelium The pigmented layer of retina or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is the pigmented cell layer just outside the neurosensory retina that nourishes retinal visual cells, and is firmly attached to the underlying choroid and overlying retinal visual ...

(RPE) responses are measured with an EOG test with skin-contact electrodes placed near the canthi. During a recording, the patient's eyes are exposed to standardized stimuli and the resulting signal is displayed showing the time course of the signal's amplitude (voltage). Signals are very small, and typically are measured in microvolts or nanovolts. The ERG is composed of electrical potentials contributed by different cell types within the retina, and the stimulus conditions (flash or pattern stimulus, whether a background light is present, and the colors of the stimulus and background) can elicit stronger response from certain components. If a dim flash ERG is performed on a dark-adapted eye, the response is primarily from the rod system. Flash ERGs performed on a light adapted eye will reflect the activity of the cone system. Sufficiently bright flashes will elicit ERGs containing an a-wave (initial negative deflection) followed by a b-wave (positive deflection). The leading edge of the a-wave is produced by the photoreceptors, while the remainder of the wave is produced by a mixture of cells including photoreceptors, bipolar, amacrine, and Müller cells or Müller glia. The pattern ERG (PERG), evoked by an alternating checkerboard stimulus, primarily reflects activity of

retinal ganglion cell A retinal ganglion cell (RGC) is a type of neuron located near the inner surface (the ganglion cell layer) of the retina of the eye. It receives visual information from photoreceptors via two intermediate neuron types: bipolar cells and reti ...

Diagnostics

Clinically used mainly by

ophthalmologists Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

the electroretinogram (ERG) is used for the diagnosis of various retinal diseases. Inherited retinal degenerations in which the ERG can be useful include: *

Retinitis pigmentosa Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic disorder of the eyes that causes loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visual field). As peripheral vision worsens, people may ...

and related hereditary degenerations * Retinitis punctata albescens *

Leber's congenital amaurosis Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a rare inherited eye disease that appears at birth or in the first few months of life. It affects about 1 in 40,000 newborns. LCA was first described by Theodor Leber in the 19th century. It should not be co ...

Choroideremia Choroideremia (; CHM) is a rare, X-linked recessive form of hereditary retinal degeneration that affects roughly 1 in 50,000 males. The disease causes a gradual loss of vision, starting with childhood night blindness, followed by peripheral vision ...

* Gyrate atrophy of the retina and choroid * Goldman-Favre syndrome * Congenital stationary night blindness - ''normal a-wave indicates normal photoreceptors; absent b-wave indicates abnormality in the

bipolar cell A bipolar neuron, or bipolar cell, is a type of neuron that has two extensions (one axon and one dendrite). Many bipolar cells are specialized sensory neurons for the transmission of sense. As such, they are part of the sensory pathways for sme ...

region.'' * X-linked juvenile

retinoschisis Retinoschisis is an eye disease characterized by the abnormal splitting of the retina's neurosensory layers, usually in the outer plexiform layer. Retinoschisis can be divided into degenerative forms which are very common and almost exclusively i ...

Achromatopsia Achromatopsia, also known as Rod monochromacy, is a medical syndrome that exhibits symptoms relating to five conditions, most notably monochromacy. Historically, the name referred to monochromacy in general, but now typically refers only to an ...

* Cone dystrophy * Disorders mimicking retinitis pigmentosa *

Usher syndrome Usher syndrome, also known as Hallgren syndrome, Usher–Hallgren syndrome, retinitis pigmentosa–dysacusis syndrome or dystrophia retinae dysacusis syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder caused by a mutation in any one of at least 11 genes result ...

Other ocular disorders in which the standard ERG provides useful information include: *

Diabetic retinopathy Diabetic retinopathy (also known as diabetic eye disease), is a medical condition in which damage occurs to the retina due to diabetes mellitus. It is a leading cause of blindness in developed countries. Diabetic retinopathy affects up to 80 perc ...

* Other ischemic retinopathies including

central retinal vein occlusion Central retinal vein occlusion, also CRVO, is when the central retinal vein becomes occluded, usually through thrombosis. The central retinal vein is the venous equivalent of the central retinal artery and both may become occluded. Since the centra ...

(CRVO), branch vein occlusion (BVO), and

sickle cell retinopathy A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, e ...

* Toxic retinopathies, including those caused by

Plaquenil Hydroxychloroquine, sold under the brand name Plaquenil among others, is a medication used to prevent and treat malaria in areas where malaria remains sensitive to chloroquine. Other uses include treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, a ...

and

Vigabatrin Vigabatrin, brand name Sabril, is a medication used to treat epilepsy. It became available as a generic medication in 2019. It works by inhibiting the breakdown of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). It is also known as γ-vinyl-GABA, and is a structu ...

. The ERG is also used to monitor retinal toxicity in many drug trials. * Autoimmune retinopathies such as cancer associated retinopathy (CAR), melanoma associated retinopathy (MAR), and acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR) * Retinal detachment * Assessment of retinal function after trauma, especially in vitreous hemorrhage, dense cataracts, and other conditions where the fundus cannot be visualized. The ERG is also used extensively in eye research, as it provides information about the function of the retina that is not otherwise available. Other ERG tests, such as the

photopic negative response Photopic vision is the visual perception, vision of the human eye, eye under well-lit conditions (luminance levels from 10 to 108 candela per square metre, cd/m2). In humans and many other animals, photopic vision allows color vision, color ...

(PhNR) and

pattern ERG A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...

(PERG) may be useful in assessing retinal ganglion cell function in diseases like

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye re ...

. The

multifocal Progressive lenses, also called multifocal lenses, progressive addition lenses (PAL), varifocal lenses, progressive power lenses, graduated prescription lenses, or progressive spectacle lenses are corrective lenses used in eyeglasses to correct ...

ERG is used to record separate responses for different retinal locations. The international body concerned with the clinical use and standardization of the ERG, EOG, and VEP is the International Society for the Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV).

Other uses

In addition to its clinical diagnostic purpose, the ERG can be used during the course of drug development and in clinical trials for testing ocular safety and efficacy of new or existing drugs and treatment modalities. A 2013 study by Nasser et al. found that the retinal

dopamine Dopamine (DA, a contraction of 3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine) is a neuromodulatory molecule that plays several important roles in cells. It is an organic chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families. Dopamine constitutes about 8 ...

rgic response to eating a brownie is equivalent in magnitude to the response to a 20 mg dose of

methylphenidate Methylphenidate, sold under the brand names Ritalin and Concerta among others, is the most widely prescribed central nervous system (CNS) stimulant medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and, to a lesser extent ...

, which implies that the activity of dopamine neurons in the retina reflects brain dopaminergic activity. The study concludes that, if verified by further research, "ERG could provide the neurotransmitter specificity of

PET A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence ...

at a much lower cost". The ERG has been shown to differ in people with schizophrenia and may be useful in helping to differentiate schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

History

ERG was one of the earliest recorded biological potential. The first known ERG was recorded by the Swedish physiologist Alarik Frithiof Holmgren, who recorded it in 1865 on an amphibian retina. However, he failed to understand his findings accurately. He thought the responses he recorded were from the optic nerve instead of the retina. The first human ERG was recorded in 1877 by Scottish chemist and physicist

Sir James Dewar Sir James Dewar (20 September 1842 – 27 March 1923) was a British chemist and physicist. He is best known for his invention of the vacuum flask, which he used in conjunction with research into the liquefaction of gases. He also studied ato ...

. James Dewar and

John Gray McKendrick John Gray McKendrick FRS FRSE FRCPE LLD (12 August 1841 – 2 January 1926) was a distinguished Scottish physiologist. He was born and studied in Aberdeen, Scotland, and served as Regius Professor of Physiology at the University of Glasgow fr ...

independently suggested that the biological potential was from retina. In 1908, Einthoven and Jolly divided the ERG response into three components: A-wave, B-wave, and C-wave. In 1941, American psychologist Lorraine Riggs introduced a

contact lens Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmetic ...

electrode for ERG recording. Many of Ragnar Granit's observations became the basis of ERG understanding, for which he was awarded the 1967

Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ( sv, Nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin) is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single ...

References

{{Authority control Diagnostic ophthalmology Electrodiagnosis

Diagnostics

Other uses

History

See also

References