Abstract
The role of light adaptation on response duality was examined in excised eyes taken from mature Limulus and maintained in ordinary seawater for up to 10 h. Several manifestations of duality were found. Two types of quantum fluctuations exist in dark adaptation. Two segments were found in the intensity-response function characterizing the plateau phase of responses in the dark-adapted state. And this intensity-response function covered a wide range of intensities in dark adaptation. Light adaptation reversibly abolished all three of these expressions of response duality. Thus, despite repeated claims that response duality is a property that degenerates after excision, these data show that it is an adaptation-dependent property that can readily be seen when care is taken to allow enough time for dark adaptation.
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Collection of these data was supported in part by a National Eye Institute Grant EY-07008 and in part by a David Ross Fellowship. Preparation of this report was supported by a National Science Foundation Grant EET 87-21333.
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Wang-Bennett, L.T., Wasserman, G.S. Visual cells in excised Limulus eyes: Dark adaptation reveals evidence of response duality. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 29, 75–78 (1991). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334775
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334775