Degeneration stage-specific response pattern of retinal ganglion cell spikes in rd10 mouse retina

It is known that with retinal degeneration there is rewiring of retinal networks. Consequently, electrical stimulation of the degenerating retina produces responses that differ according to the stage of retinal degeneration. We sought to delineate a degeneration stage-specific parameter for the response pattern of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) spikes as a strategy for stage-specific electrical stimulation for perceptual efficiency of prosthetic vision devices. Electrically-evoked RGC spikes were recorded at different degeneration stages in the rd10 mouse model for human retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Retinal explants mounted on an 8×8 multi-electrode array were stimulated by applying 1 Hz cathodic-phase first biphasic current pulses. RGC firing rate during the first 100 ms post-stimulus was compared to that during the 100 - 1000 ms period and a response ratio of 100 ms (RR
_{100 ms}
) was calculated through the different postnatal weeks. Our results show that during post-stimulus 100 - 1000 ms, the degree of correlation between pulse amplitude and evoked RGC spikes drastically decreases at PNW 4.5. This pattern was closely matched by the RR
_{100 ms}
curve at this stage. We conclude that the RR
_{100 ms}
might be a good indicator of the therapeutic potential of a retinal electrical prosthesis.