Regional tuning of photoreceptor adaptation in the primate retina

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 8821 - 14
• Main Authors: Saha, Aindrila, Bucci, Theodore, Baudin, Jacob, Sinha, Raunak
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 12.10.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/378/2613/1786; 631/378/3917; 9/74; Acuity; Adaptation; Adaptation, Ocular - physiology; Animals; Cones; Eye movements; Fovea; Fovea Centralis - physiology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hyperpolarization; Information processing; Light adaptation; Luminance; Luminous intensity; Macaca mulatta; Male; multidisciplinary; Photic Stimulation; Photoreception; Photoreceptors; Retina; Retina - physiology; Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells - physiology; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Visual system
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53061-3

Adaptation in cone photoreceptors allows our visual system to effectively operate over an enormous range of light intensities. However, little is known about the properties of cone adaptation in the specialized region of the primate central retina called the fovea, which is densely packed with cones and mediates high-acuity central vision. Here we show that macaque foveal cones exhibit weaker and slower luminance adaptation compared to cones in the peripheral retina. We find that this difference in adaptive properties between foveal and peripheral cones is due to differences in the magnitude of a hyperpolarization-activated current, I h . This I h current regulates the strength and time course of luminance adaptation in peripheral cones where it is more prominent than in foveal cones. A weaker and slower adaptation in foveal cones helps maintain a higher sensitivity for a longer duration which may be well-suited for maximizing the collection of high-acuity information at the fovea during gaze fixation between rapid eye movements. Light adaptation in the primate fovea is poorly understood. Here, Saha et al. show that cone photoreceptors in the fovea exhibit weaker and slower light adaptation than cones in the peripheral retina due to differences in ion-channel properties.