Thymoxamine constricts the pupil without significant effect on accommodation and was used in this study because of the extreme sensitivity of the pattern electroretinogram (PERG) to defocus at high spatial frequencies. Pilocarpine, used in previous studies, can cause an unpredictable spasm of accommodation. A reduction in pupil size has two effects on the PERG due to illuminance and optical degradation. Illuminance differences can be compensated by neutral density filters. This allows the effects of optical degradation on the PERG to be examined under conditions of constant adaptation.
Our studies on a group of 10 subjects have shown the PERG to be proportional to contrast. As constrast degradation is reduced with a smaller pupil, a larger PERG amplitude is predicted. However the tuning of neural dements under constant adaptation should not alter. Pattern onset ERGs were recorded from a further 10 subjects in response to checkerboards of various spatial frequencies under two conditions, a) with pupils miosed by thymoxamine hydrochloride 0.5% and b) with natural pupils. Adaptation level was equated by a 0.4 neutral density filter before the natural pupils. The group-averaged PERGs were analyzed into retinal illuminance and pattern-specific responses. A paired t-test showed the pattern-onset ERG amplitudes to be significantly different in the two conditions, but the computed pattern-specific responses were virtually identical. These results therefore support the theory and method used for the extraction of the pattern-specific response.