Pubblicazioni

Autori:

Santandrea, Elisa; Sani, Ilaria; Morbioli, Gianpaolo; Multari, Domenico; Marchini, Giorgio; Chelazzi, Leonardo

Titolo:

Optic nerve degeneration and reduced contrast sensitivity due to folic acid deficiency: a behavioral and electrophysiological study in Rhesus Monkeys

Anno:

2018

Tipologia prodotto:

Articolo in Rivista

Tipologia ANVUR:

Articolo su rivista

Lingua:

Inglese

Formato:

A Stampa

Referee:

Sì

Nome rivista:

INVESTIGATIVE OPHTHALMOLOGY & VISUAL SCIENCE

ISSN Rivista:

1552-5783

N° Volume:

59

Numero o Fascicolo:

15

Intervallo pagine:

6045-6056

Parole chiave:

optic neuritis; macaque; folic acid deficiency; cortical visual system; contrast sensitivity

Breve descrizione dei contenuti:

Purpose: The purpose of the research was to elucidate the role of folic acid (B9) deficiency in the development of nutritional optic neuritis and to characterize the neurophysiological consequences of optic nerve degeneration in the cortical visual system. Methods: A combined behavioral and electrophysiological approach was applied to study luminance contrast sensitivity in two macaque monkeys affected by nutritional optic neuritis and in two healthy monkeys for comparison. For one monkey, a follow-up approach was applied to compare visual performance before onset of optic neuropathy, during the disease, and after treatment. Results: Optic nerve degeneration developed as a consequence of insufficient dietary intake of folic acid in two exemplars of macaque monkeys. The degeneration resulted in markedly reduced luminance contrast sensitivity as assessed behaviorally. In one monkey, we also measured visual activity in response to varying contrast at the level of single neurons in the cortical visual system and found a striking reduction in contrast sensitivity, as well as a marked increase in the latency of neuronal responses. Prolonged daily folate supplementation resulted in a significant recovery of function. Conclusions: Folic acid deficiency per se can lead to the development of optic nerve degeneration in otherwise healthy adult animals. The optic nerve degeneration strongly affects contrast sensitivity and leads to a distinct reduction in the strength and velocity of the incoming signal to cortical visual areas of the macaque brain, without directly affecting excitability and functional properties of cortical neurons.

Pagina Web:

https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.18-24822

Id prodotto:

105767

Handle IRIS:

11562/989232

ultima modifica:

11 novembre 2022

Citazione bibliografica:

Santandrea, Elisa; Sani, Ilaria; Morbioli, Gianpaolo; Multari, Domenico; Marchini, Giorgio; Chelazzi, Leonardo, Optic nerve degeneration and reduced contrast sensitivity due to folic acid deficiency: a behavioral and electrophysiological study in Rhesus Monkeys «INVESTIGATIVE OPHTHALMOLOGY & VISUAL SCIENCE» , vol. 59 , n. 15 , 2018 , pp. 6045-6056

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