Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Spontaneous quantal events induced in toad rods by pigment bleaching

Abstract

Barlow proposed that absolute visual threshold is limited by photon-like noise events in the rod photoreceptors1, and he later extended the idea to explain the elevation of threshold following bright bleaching lights in terms of increased noise in the photoreceptors2. Rushton, on the other hand, has proposed that the threshold elevation during dark adaptation involves changes not within the photoreceptors themselves but rather in the gain of a subsequent ‘pool’3. I report here measurements of outer segment current in individual rod photoreceptors which demonstrate that spontaneous fluctuations occur at a greatly increased rate following bleaches of around 1%, and that these fluctuations have the form expected for random occurrences of the single photon events. This is consistent with Barlow's ideas but does not indicate whether a gain change subsequent to the receptors also occurs.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Barlow, H. B. J. opt. Soc. Am. 46, 634–639 (1956).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Barlow, H. B. Vision Res. 4, 47–58 (1964).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Rushton, W. A. H. Proc. R. Soc. B162, 20–46 (1965).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Yau, K.-W., Lamb, T. D. & Baylor, D. A. Nature 269, 78–80 (1977).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Baylor, D. A., Lamb, T. D. & Yau, K.-W. J. Physiol., Lond. 288, 589–611 (1979).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Baylor, D. A., Lamb, T. D. & Yau, K.-W. J. Physiol., Lond. 288, 613–634 (1979).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Baylor, D. A., Matthews, G. G. & Yau, K.-W. J. Physiol., Lond. (in the press).

  8. Lamb, T. D., McNaughton, P. A. & Yau, K.-W. J. Physiol., Lond. (in the press).

  9. Brown, J. E. & Pinto, L. H. J. Physiol., Lond. 236, 575–591 (1974).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Fain, G. L. J. Physiol., Lond. 261, 71–101 (1976).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Bastian, B. L. & Fain, G. L. J. Physiol., Lond. 297, 493–520 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Cervetto, L., Pasino, E. & Torre, V. J. Physiol., Lond. 267, 17–51 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Baylor, D. A., Hodgkin, A. L. & Lamb, T. D. J. Physiol., Lond. 242, 685–727 (1974).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Stiles, W. S. & Crawford, B. H. in Report of a Joint Discussion on Vision 194–211 (Physical Society of London, Cambridge University Press, 1932).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Tsukahara, Y. & Horridge, G. A. J. exp. Biol. 68, 137–149 (1977).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lamb, T. Spontaneous quantal events induced in toad rods by pigment bleaching. Nature 287, 349–351 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/287349a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/287349a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing