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Garcia-Austt & Patetta-Queirolo 1961a
Garcia-Austt & Patetta-Queirolo 1961a
1961, 7; 179
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I Electrore~inogram · of the chick embryo*
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I. Onset and development
! E. GARciA-AUSTT *~ and
(Montevideo)
M. A. PATETTA-QUEIROLO ***
~
,,·
studied the ontogenic development of in this first report. ~l
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ERG in the mouse. Zetterstrom n has l
t'
{ adult. He further reported 16 that in 60 embryo_s at periods r~nging between
the 12th and 20th day of incubation,
( the premature it appears only on the
5 chicks of ages from 1 to 28 days, and
( 15th postnatal day.
Although the main objetive of the
3 adults.
In the cur:arized embryo both eyelids,
~
present research was the study of the nictitating membrane, the upper edge
chick embryo, a number of rec~rds of·· the orbit, the ocular capsule, and
were take~ from young "and . adult corresponding ocular muscles were resect-
l chickens for the purpose of comparison. ed. Thus the whole of the upper portion of
the eyeball was exposed as -far as the
J . . :!: ., i :_
origin of the optic nerve •. These resections
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180 GARCIA-AUSTT. AND PATETTA-QUEIROLo
Non-polarized electrodes were used, the a wave is far deeper and there is neither
absence of the photoelectrical effeCt being c wave nor "off" effect. ERG have been
checked. An electrode was placed on the studied in man with flashes of the same
cornea· immediately laterally or medially type 3, G and in the dog.2
to the pupil and another one on the _caudal The energy released by each flash of
portion of the eyeball, next to the origin the photostimulator wa.s constant at what-
of the optic nerve. In these positions, at ever frequency, inasmuch as neither the
both ocular poles, the ERG; attained its
''
intensity nor the duration was. Hence it
maximal amplitude. This arrangement more reliable a method than the one
was important, for at the beginning the employed classically (mechanical interrup-
maximal amplitude of ERG was only a tion of a continuous light,4, s, 12 by which
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few microvolts. the duration of the stimulus decreased
Experiments in embryos :were conducted with the increase of frequency.
at a constant. temperature of 38°C. In·
young and adult chickens exposure of the
eyeball and placement of the electrodes
were made . in the same manner. They
Results t
were anesthetized . with . penthobarbital, Onset of the ERG
the young chickens being placed at ·38°C.
AC amplifiers with 0.155- 0.2 sec. time As seen in Table I, ERG developed
constants ~ere used. As no resistance on the 18th day. Prior to this stage
coupled amplifiers· were employed, 'slow
all the experiments had been negative.
ERG (C·-Wave) phenomena were no~Jaken
into account. The recording system con- Particular attention was devoted to the
sisted of ink-writing oscillographs and 17th day, with 7 experiments, includ-
CRO. An upward displacement in the ing a· 17 ;.2 day embryo. On the 18th
record indicated corneal. eleCtrode .·posi- day, 2 out of 12 (17 %) ·experiments
tiveness.
were negative. On the 19th and 20th
A gaslight flash photostimulator was
days all the results were positive.
used. The energy released by each flash . .
of light was con5tant, 0.3 joule.· Duration · The ERG of the chick embryo pre-
-100 sec.- was also constant. The light sented a number of features definitely
beam -of parallel rays- had· an· area of distinct from the ERCf ·~ecorded after
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200 · cm2 ahd ·was placed 10-12 em from
hatching.
the ·eye, at all times illuminating the ma-
ximal retinal area. Pupillary diameter
was permanently kept ·at its maximum ERG of the "embrym~al"
throught .local atropinization~ One single and "postnatal" types !'t
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flash caused dazzling in man during se~
vera} .· seconds · and was . -sufficient · · tt:) When ERG first appeared on the
· · disadapt;·: during several minutes, 'the 18th day of incubation· and; partly, on
darkne.SS adapted eye (Cobb and Morton a).
the :19th, it showed peculiar characte-
~'
Single· flashes and repetitive stimulation
were ··employed at 0.5-75/sec. frequencies. ristics that enabled their classification
· Experiments were performed in a dimly as belonging to the "embryonal" type.
lit room, except when the eye was adapted Late~ on, partly on the 19th day of \
to' da.tkness or light.
· Stimulation of 'the retina with intense,
short flashes provokes an ERG with cha-
·incubation and on the 20th, the retina
responded to light ih the same fashion I
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21 17
31 17 none of these characteristics and the
14 17
17 18
changes provoked by repetitive stimu-
37 18 lation were similar to those observed
15 18 +
( 16 18 +
in adult animals and man. The use of
the term "postnatal" does not imply
20 - 18 +
30 18 + that the ERG can be superposed over
35 18 +
36 18 + that of the newborn chick or adult
39 18 + chicken. Quite the opposite, the "post- I,_
40 18 +
45 18 + natal" ERG type presented a longer
46 18 + duration, a lower amplitude and a
18 19 +
19 19 + considerably broadened a wave, · cha-
22 19 + racteristics that set them· widely .~part
( 24
25
19
19 +
+ '
~.
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38
lation, is an arbitrary one. For prac-
41 19 +
__ +
47 19 tical purposes, stimuli induced at in-
48 19 + tervals longer than one second were
23 20 +
29 20 -f regarded as isolated stimuli; those
.( caused to develop re~ularly with a
1 second period or less as repetitive.
\ The ERG was similar to that of the
postnatal· st'age and was classified as
The enhancement of the response
elicited after the onset of repetitive
'
of the "postnatal" type. stimulation (Fig: 1, A 2) may be in-
( ERG of the "embryonal" type was terpreted in two different ways: ( i)
;~~;~
made distinct by the following charac- it would be the case of a recruiting
182 GARCIA-AUSTT AND PATETTA-QUEIROI,Q
..
,. ' lll.:'l "
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of·
sa
re
-; 1 ... t t t ·t t ..., r 1 .J
.f' cla
\' res
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FIG. 1 . - Chic:1; ERG of the "embryonal" an·d "postnatal~' types. A) "Embryonal"-type ERG. ch
B) "Postnatal"-type ER<;;. 1) Response _to isolated stimuli. No response at A. 2) Recruit- an
ment. No recruitment at B. 3) Rebound. No rebound at B. 4) Stimulation with 0.39-0.51,
micra wavelenghts. No response at A. Calibrations, horizontal', 1 sec. for 1 and 2, 2.5 sec·_
. for 3 and 0.5 sec. for 4; v~rtical, 100 microvolts. In this figure and Jn the following ones,
( 17
the upper tracing is the ERG and the lower the stimulus.
ELECTRORETINOGRAM ·OF. THE · CHICK . EMBRYO 183
~
46 + + embryonal
20 . +. + + mixed
Characteristics of the ERG
19 da~s _before and after hatching
18 + + embryonal
I
19 + embryonal
22 + + embryonal a) . Form;
duration and amplitude.
26 + + embryonal
These features varied from embryo
28 + + embryonal
33 + + to embryo _and even within one single
embryonal
32 + + embryonal
( 48 + +
experiment, they changed co-nsiderably
embryonal
on varying the qualities of the stimu-
38 + + + mixed
lus. Nevertheless, when these qualities,
24 + postnatal as well as experimental conditions,
25 + postnatal were kept constant, the ERG was the
27: postnatal
34 postnatal same throughout each experiment.
41 + postnatal With intense, brief stimuli two basic
47 + postnatal
t
t 20 days
waves were elicited, similar to those
described in animals· and in man:
23 postnatal
\ 29 postnatal surface negative a wa\fe~ and positive
b wave.- These waves tended to be-
) • Experiments 36 and 45 were eliminated because
of low voltage.
come more complex usually presenting
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of the "postnatal" type and at th~. _and it was difficult to differentiate the a
same time.presented the recruiting ·and and b multiple waves. By a wave is
rebound phenomena as in the "em- meant the first negative deflection with
bryonal" type. Experiments 32 and all its notches, until it reaches the iso-
f 48 (on the 19th day) could not be electrical line. Beyond this line, only b
classified with accuracy inasmuch as waves (b 1 , .b 2 , etc.)· ar~ present.
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, response _to isolated stimuli was not In figure 2 a schematic diagram is
checked. Both showed the recruiting pr~sented of the _most frequent forms,
and rebound phenomena. the mean duration and ampl:tude of
Out of 25 positive experiments, embryo ERG on the 18th_ and 19th day
(
,- 17 ( 63 %) presented ERG of the as well as of the ERG elicited after
184 GARCIA-AUSTT AND PATETTA-QUEIROLo
Before hatching
+ 1 38 19 10
2 46 18 16
3 41· 19 ~·· , 16·
4 48 19 ~ 0. 20
...... ,..1--- 5 35 18 25
6 - 40 18 25
7 32 19 35
8 39 18 uo•
After hatching
1
2
3
4
5
Experiment
50
44
51
49
42
Days of age
1
12
365 or more
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20'
Latency
8
9
9
10
11
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Diagnostic representation. Ordinates: microvolts.
Abscissas: msec. Full tracing: ERG of embryo on
the 18th day of incubation. a wave is notched. • For the statistic calculation of Ta- t
b wave is multiple and ERG is of low amplitude ble IV this value is eliminated
from the series, for the rejection l
and long duration, 300 msec. Bold dotting: ERG
at a more advanced embryonal stage. a wave coefficient is 0.75 and higher than .
)
->
.
decreases in duration. Fine dotting: ERG of new- that demanded (Q = 0.47 for 8 ex-
born 10-day chick. High amplitude, short duration,
sharp a wave and simple b wave.
perfments). The latency is expres-
sed in milliseconds.
1
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ELECTRORETINOGRAM OF THE CHICK EMBRYO 185
~·· '
E L L
I ,---
'L_'·.
--. -=-·
8 c
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F1c. 4.- Ocular movements elicited by photic stimulation. ERG, ocular movements and elec-
tro-retinogram. E, flashes of light. A-C, records at different speeds. At the onset of A, spon-
taneous movement is seen. Movements provoked by light produce similar artifacts with the
ERG super-imposed. Calibrations, 1 sec. and 50 microvolts.
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d) b wave. Its shape was. likewise sectioning this nerve, the movements
irregular and usually presented mul- elicited by flashing light disappear
tiple notches both in . its ascending although ERG and spontaneous move~
branch and in the descending one. ments still persist.
Particularly during rebound the notches Likewise, clonic corporeal move-
became more marked and as many as ments were observed as a result of
five b waves were identifiable (Figs. 2 photic stimulation at the same stage
and 3). Its duration was longer than of development.
that of a with isolated flashes of light,
probably exceeding 400 msec., although
this finding could not be accurately Discussion
ascertained owing to the characteristics
The outstanding features of the ERG
of the amplifiers .used. With repetitive
before hatching are: longer duration
stimuli its duration diminished progres-
anc;I greater complexity of waves as
sively until it disappeared altogether
well as highly reduced amplitude.
shortly before fusion frequency. Its
The a wave constitutes the salient
amplitude was likewise variable. These
phenomenon and in this respect, the re-
features of b were different with those
- ported data coincide with those obtain-
found after birth, where the shape was
ed by- Keeler, Sutcliffe a'i1d Chaffee 10
more regular, the amplitude conside-
from the embryonal mi.ce. a wave is
rably wider and notches were seen
always larger in man and in all adult
only occasionally in t h e ascending
animals when high-intensity flashes of
branch (Figs. 2 and 3).
light are ~utilized but its duration, on
the other hand, is very brief. In the
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in the chick embryo, there is a frank " trated in many action systems of the
prevalence of Pill with a wave con- " growing organism well b~fore the
siderably widened, the whole process "time when the function in question
being inhibit?ry. These two events " is normally called upon to play an
might lead to the assumption that the " active and significant part in the
onset of ERG be not accompanied by " vital economy of the organism."
the transmission of se-nsory messages Sufficient experimental evidence has
toward the central nervous system. been presented as to establish the
However the determination of reflex existence of two types of ERG in the
I movements which disappear following embryo, namely, "embryonal": and
I section of the optic nerve conclusively "postnatal". The former.. represents the
l demonstrates that when ERG appears
in the embryo on the 18th day of
earliest stage of retinal··aevelopment
and -the latter an inter~ediate stage of
J incubation, the optic pathways - are maturation. The differences· between
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permeable.· This contention agrees with both are explained by adaptation to
the observation of Kuo, 11 who, by light, which requires very intense
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direct study found motor_ responses _in
the chick embryo by photic stimula-
flashing in order to become elicitable
in the "embryonal" type of eye. The
tion at the end of the 17th day of "postnatal" eye, such as that of the
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incubation in 5 % of experiments, on newborn chick and the adult eye
the 18th day in 12 % and on the 19th become immediately ~a,dapted to light
in 51 %. In addition, Hunt and Gol- as a result of intense stimulation.
drjng 0 demonstrated in the rabbit that These views will be discussed in a
~ .the optic pathways are permeable forthcoming report.
l before the retina is found to respond Rebollo 1 ~ studied the histological
( to photic stimulation. Actually they and histochemical development of chick
recorded- evoked potentials from the embryo retina. She concluded that
188 . GARCJA-AUSTT AND PATETTA·QliEIROLQ
13. REBOLLO, M. A.: Some aspects of the histoge- 15. ZETTEHSTROM, B.: Clinical electroretinogram;
nesis of retina. Acta Neurot. Latinoamer., electroretinogram in children during first year
of life. Acta Ophthal., Copenhagen, 1951, 29:
1955, 1: 142-147.
14. TH:ER..'"oofAN, P. 0.: The neurophysiology of the 295-304.
retina in the light of chemical methods of 16. ZETT:ERSTHOM, B.: Electroretinogram in prema-
modifying its excitability. Acta Soc. Sci. Fenn. ture children. Acta Ophthal., Copenhagen.
N. S. B., 1938, II, N? 1, Helsingfors. 1952, 30: 405-408 .
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