Behavioral estimates of absolute threshold in rat

Autor: Daniel G. Green, Pilar Herreros de Tejada, Carmen Musioz Tedo
Rok vydání: 1994
Předmět:
Zdroj: Visual Neuroscience. 11:1077-1082
ISSN: 1469-8714
0952-5238
DOI: 10.1017/s0952523800006891
Popis: Dark-adapted thresholds of albino and pigmented rats were estimated using behavioral methods. Albino and pigmented rats who had been water deprived learned to bar press for water reinforcement when a light stimulus was presented. Absolute threshold was defined to be the light intensity at which bar pressing behavior was significantly modified by the presence of the light stimulus. Albino rats had an average threshold of −5.23 log cd/m2 and the pigmented rats had a threshold of −5.0 log cd/m2. These values are close to −5.3 log cd/m2, the psychophysical threshold of human observers in the same apparatus. Consistent with our earlier electrophysiology, these behavioral experiments provide no evidence for an albino/pigmented sensitivity difference. Comparisons are made between behavioral and electrophysiological determinations of absolute threshold in albino and pigmented rats. Thresholds determined behaviorally agree remarkably well with those derived from visual evoked potentials.
Databáze: OpenAIRE