Spontaneous Oscillatory Rhythms in the Degenerating Mouse Retina Modulate Retinal Ganglion Cell Responses to Electrical Stimulation

• Published in: Frontiers in cellular neuroscience Vol. 9; p. 512
• Main Authors: Goo, Yong Sook, Park, Dae Jin, Ahn, Jung Ryul, Senok, Solomon S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Research Foundation 12.01.2016; Frontiers Media S.A
• Subjects: Age; Animal models; Degenerative diseases; Electrical stimuli; Firing pattern; Frequency dependence; Hyperactivity; Macular degeneration; Neuroscience; oscillatory local field potential; Phosphodiesterase; Photoreceptors; rd1 mice; rd10 mice; Retina; Retinal Degeneration; retinal ganglion cell; Retinal ganglion cells; Retinitis; Retinitis pigmentosa; Rhythm; Rhythms; Wavelet transforms; South Korea; retinal degeneration; rd10 mice; oscillatory local field potential; retinal ganglion cell; rd1 mice
• ISSN: 1662-5102; 1662-5102
• DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2015.00512

Characterization of the electrical activity of the retina in the animal models of retinal degeneration has been carried out in part to understand the progression of retinal degenerative diseases like age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP), but also to determine optimum stimulus paradigms for use with retinal prosthetic devices. The models most studied in this regard have been the two lines of mice deficient in the β-subunit of phosphodiesterase (rd1 and rd10 mice), where the degenerating retinas exhibit characteristic spontaneous hyperactivity and oscillatory local field potentials (LFPs). Additionally, there is a robust ~10 Hz rhythmic burst of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) spikes on the trough of the oscillatory LFP. In rd1 mice, the rhythmic burst of RGC spikes is always phase-locked with the oscillatory LFP and this phase-locking property is preserved regardless of postnatal ages. However, in rd10 mice, the frequency of the oscillatory rhythm changes according to postnatal age, suggesting that this rhythm might be a marker of the stage of degeneration. Furthermore when a biphasic current stimulus is applied to rd10 mice degenerate retina, distinct RGC response patterns that correlate with the stage of degeneration emerge. This review also considers the significance of these response properties.