ELECTRORETINOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF BACKGROUND ADAPTATION IN 10-WEEK-OLD HUMAN INFANTS

Full field, scotopic b-wave stimulus/response functions of 10-week-old infants and adults were measured in the dark-adapted condition, and in the presence of steady backgrounds. Dark adapted b-wave sensitivity (log-sigma) differed significantly between infants and adults; the median dark adapted sensitivity of infants was 0.50 log unit less than that of adults. The median eigengraus of infants (- 1.32 log scot. td) and adults (- 1.55 log scot. td) did not differ significantly. The median slope of the linear portion of the background adaptation function was about 0.9 for infants and adults. These results argue for post-receptoral immaturities, but do not rule out receptoral immaturities.