Electroretinography (ERG) is a non-invasive method that can contribute to a description of the functional organization of the human retina under normal and pathological circumstances. The physiological and pathophysiological processes leading to an ERG signal can be better understood when the cellular origins of the ERG are identified. The ERG signal recorded at the cornea is initiated by light absorption in the photoreceptors which leads to activity in the photoreceptors and in their post-receptoral pathways. Light absorption in distinct photoreceptor types may lead to different ERG responses caused either by differences between the photoreceptors or between their post-receptoral pathways. The description of contributions of the different photoreceptor types to the ERG may therefore give more detailed insight in the origins of the ERG. Such a description can be obtained by isolating the responses of a single photoreceptor type. Nowadays, careful control of differently colored light sources together with the relatively well-known cone and rod fundamentals enables a precise description and control of photoreceptor excitation. Theoretically, any desired combination of photoreceptor excitation modulation can be achieved, including conditions in which the activity in only one photoreceptor type is modulated (silent substitution). In this manner the response of one photoreceptor type is isolated without changing the state of adaptation. This stimulus technique has been used to study the contribution of signals originating in the different photoreceptor types to the human ERG. Furthermore, by stimulating two or more photoreceptor types simultaneously, the interaction between the different signals can be studied. With these new techniques results of measurements in healthy subjects and patients with retinal diseases can be compared. This approach should ultimately help to develop better diagnostic tools and result in a fuller description of the changes and the pathophysiological mechanisms in retinal disorder. Finally, data obtained with cone and rod specific stimuli may lead to a reinterpretation of the standard ERG used in a clinical setting.

中文翻译：

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正常和异常人类视网膜中L和M锥体特定的视网膜电信号的评估。

视网膜电图（ERG）是一种非侵入性方法，可有助于描述正常和病理情况下人类视网膜的功能组织。当识别出ERG的细胞起源时，可以更好地理解导致ERG信号的生理和病理生理过程。在角膜处记录的ERG信号是由光感受器中的光吸收引发的，这导致了光感受器及其受体后途径的活性。不同感光体类型的光吸收可能会导致不同的ERG响应，这可能是由于感光体之间或其感受器后途径之间的差异引起的。因此，不同感光体类型对ERG的贡献的描述可能会更详细地了解ERG的起源。这样的描述可以通过隔离单个感光体类型的响应来获得。如今，仔细控制不同颜色的光源以及相对众所周知的圆锥形和杆状基本原理，可以对感光器激发进行精确描述和控制。从理论上讲，可以实现任何所需的感光体激发调制组合，包括其中仅调制一种感光体类型的活性（无声取代）的条件。以这种方式，在不改变适应状态的情况下隔离了一种感光体类型的响应。该刺激技术已被用于研究源自不同感光体类型的信号对人类ERG的贡献。此外，通过同时刺激两种或多种感光体，可以研究不同信号之间的相互作用。使用这些新技术，可以比较健康受试者和视网膜疾病患者的测量结果。这种方法最终应有助于开发更好的诊断工具，并全面描述视网膜疾病的变化和病理生理机制。最后，使用视锥细胞和视杆特异性刺激获得的数据可能会导致对临床环境中使用的标准ERG的重新解释。