PII: S0042-6989(01)00078-5

The multifocal m-sequence technique is a versatile set of tools for visual electrophysiology designed to provide access to the complex dynamic interplay of converging signals in the central nervous system. Here, a number of uses for the technique are demonstrated, with examples from human electroretinography. A simple relationship between the binary kernels extracted from a single experiment permits us to distinguish local from lateral interactions in the retina. Transformation of the series of binary kernels into response sequences provides new insight into unexpected fast dynamic properties of retinal responses and facilitates future modeling of the signals as well as identification of the signal sources.

[1]  T. Lamb,et al.  G-protein cascades: gain and kinetics , 1992, Trends in Neurosciences.

[2]  H. A. Barker,et al.  High-order autocorelation functions of pseudorandom signals based on m sequences , 1970 .

[3]  Erich E. Sutter,et al.  The optic nerve head component of the human ERG , 1999, Vision Research.

[4]  A. Cideciyan,et al.  An Alternative Phototransduction Model for Human Rod and Cone ERG a-waves: Normal Parameters and Variation with Age , 1996, Vision Research.

[5]  Ee Sutter,et al.  A deterministic approach to nonlinear systems analysis , 1992 .

[6]  Peter Sterling.  Deciphering the retina's wiring diagram , 1999, Nature Neuroscience.

[7]  C W Tyler,et al.  Phototransduction: Modeling the primate cone flash response , 1995, Visual Neuroscience.

[8]  D. Hood,et al.  Rod phototransduction in retinitis pigmentosa: estimation and interpretation of parameters derived from the rod a-wave. , 1994, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[9]  Y. W. Lee,et al.  Measurement of the Wiener Kernels of a Non-linear System by Cross-correlation† , 1965 .

[10]  B. Matthews,et al.  Sensory Mechanisms of the Retina , 1949, Nature.

[11]  Erich E. Sutter,et al.  The Fast m-Transform: A Fast Computation of Cross-Correlations with Binary m-Sequences , 1991, SIAM J. Comput..

[12]  V. Torre,et al.  Kinetics of phototransduction in retinal rods of the newt Triturus cristatus. , 1989, The Journal of physiology.

[13]  N. Wiener,et al.  Nonlinear Problems in Random Theory , 1964 .

[14]  P. Sterling.  Microcircuitry of the cat retina. , 1983, Annual review of neuroscience.

[15]  E N Pugh,et al.  Analysis of ERG a-wave amplification and kinetics in terms of the G-protein cascade of phototransduction. , 1994, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[16]  James E. Lebensohn,et al.  Sensory Mechanisms of the Retina , 1947 .

[17]  Donald C. Hood,et al.  Identifying inner retinal contributions to the human multifocal ERG , 1999, Vision Research.

[18]  D. Hood,et al.  Human cone receptor activity: The leading edge of the a–wave and models of receptor activity , 1993, Visual Neuroscience.

[19]  D R Pepperberg,et al.  Photoresponses of human rods in vivo derived from paired-flash electroretinograms , 1997, Visual Neuroscience.