Loading…

Spatiotemporal Contrast Sensitivity of Brown-Norway Rats under Scotopic and Photopic Illumination

•Luminance dependence of rat vision is qualitatively similar to that of other mammals.•Rat contrast sensitivity functions were well fit by a truncated log-parabola model.•Acuity and contrast sensitivity of Brown-Norway rats is greater than other rat strains.•Optomotor responses underestimate the vis...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuroscience 2020-11, Vol.449, p.63-73
Main Authors: Johnson, Nicholas P., Gregorich, Sarah M., Passaglia, Christopher L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:•Luminance dependence of rat vision is qualitatively similar to that of other mammals.•Rat contrast sensitivity functions were well fit by a truncated log-parabola model.•Acuity and contrast sensitivity of Brown-Norway rats is greater than other rat strains.•Optomotor responses underestimate the visual ability of rats.•Perceptual acuity is comparable to neural acuity of rat visual cortical cells. Rats are a popular animal model for vision research and for investigating disorders of the visual system. The study aimed to quantify the spatiotemporal contrast sensitivity function (CSF) of healthy adult Brown-Norway rats under scotopic and photopic illumination. Animals were trained to jump onto the one of two adjacent platforms behind which was displayed a sinewave grating pattern. Contrast thresholds of light- and dark-adapted rats were determined using a staircase method of adjustment for gratings that varied in spatial frequency (sf) and temporal frequency (tf) and ranged several log-units in mean luminance. Photopic CSFs showed strong bandpass spatial tuning, consistent with prior measurements, and weak bandpass temporal tuning. CSFs were parameterized by a truncated log-parabola model, yielding a peak contrast sensitivity of 52 ± 9, peak sf of 0.17 ± 0.05 cycles/degree, sf limit of 1.6 ± 0.3 cycles/degree, low sf attenuation of 85 ± 9%, peak tf of 1.7 ± 1.1 Hz, extrapolated tf limit of 166 ± 44 Hz, and low tf attenuation of 55 ± 12%. CSFs became more lowpass and decreased systematically in contrast sensitivity and spatiotemporal acuity as mean luminance was reduced. CSFs were also measured via the visual head-tracking reflex. Photopic contrast sensitivity, spatial acuity, and temporal acuity were all markedly below that of the grating detection task and optomotor findings for other rat strains. The CSF data provide a comprehensive and quantitative description of rat spatial and temporal vision and a benchmark for evaluating effects of ocular diseases on their ability to see.
ISSN:0306-4522
1873-7544
DOI:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.09.056