Department of Ophthalmology, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2021 Jul 1;62(9):31. doi: 10.1167/iovs.62.9.31.
The cellular topography of the human foveola, the central 1° diameter of the fovea, is strikingly non-uniform, with a steep increase of cone photoreceptor density and outer segment (OS) length toward its center. Here, we assessed to what extent the specific cellular organization of the foveola of an individual is reflected in visual sensitivity and if sensitivity peaks at the preferred retinal locus of fixation (PRL).
Increment sensitivity to small-spot, cone-targeted visual stimuli (1 × 1 arcmin, 543-nm light) was recorded psychophysically in four human participants at 17 locations concentric within a 0.2° diameter on and around the PRL with adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy-based microstimulation. Sensitivity test spots were aligned with cell-resolved maps of cone density and cone OS length.
Peak sensitivity was at neither the PRL nor the topographical center of the cone mosaic. Within the central 0.1° diameter, a plateau-like sensitivity profile was observed. Cone density and maximal OS length differed significantly across participants, correlating with their peak sensitivity. Based on these results, biophysical simulation allowed to develop a model of visual sensitivity in the foveola, with distance from the PRL (eccentricity), cone density, and OS length as parameters.
Small-spot sensitivity thresholds in healthy retinas will help to establish the range of normal foveolar function in cell-targeted vision testing. Because of the high reproducibility in replicate testing, threshold variability not explained by our model is assumed to be caused by individual cone and bipolar cell weighting at the specific target locations.
人中央凹 1°直径的小凹区(即中央凹中心 1°直径范围)的细胞形态极不均匀,视锥光感受器密度和外节(OS)长度在其中心附近急剧增加。在此,我们评估了个体小凹区的特定细胞结构在多大程度上反映在视觉灵敏度上,以及灵敏度是否在最佳注视点(PRL)处达到峰值。
在四名参与者的 PRL 及其周围 0.2°直径内的 17 个位置上,使用自适应光学扫描激光检眼镜微刺激,对小光斑、视锥靶向视觉刺激(1×1 弧分,543nm 光)的增量灵敏度进行了心理物理学记录。灵敏度测试点与视锥密度和视锥 OS 长度的细胞分辨率图对齐。
灵敏度峰值既不在 PRL 也不在视锥镶嵌的拓扑中心。在中心 0.1°直径内,观察到类似平台的灵敏度分布。在参与者之间,视锥密度和最大 OS 长度存在显著差异,与他们的灵敏度峰值相关。基于这些结果,生物物理模拟允许开发一个小凹区视觉灵敏度模型,以距 PRL 的距离(离焦)、视锥密度和 OS 长度为参数。
健康视网膜的小光斑灵敏度阈值将有助于在细胞靶向视觉测试中建立小凹区正常功能的范围。由于在重复测试中具有很高的重现性,因此我们的模型无法解释的阈值变异性被认为是由特定目标位置的个体视锥和双极细胞权重引起的。