Anatomical, Physiological, and Behavioral Analysis of Rodent Vision

This chapter provides protocols for the study of rodent vision. An advantage of the visual system is that the physiological and behavioral response to the natural stimulus, light, can be measured. Moreover, the anatomy and circuitry of the system have been the subject of much research. Here, we describe our protocols for the analysis of the distribution of neurotransmitter receptors and signaling molecules in the retina by immunohistochemistry. We also explain in detail how we record the electroretinogram from mice, and we review two behavioral tests of rodent vision. One, the virtual optomotor test, makes use of the optokinetic nystagmus reflex, and thus is simple to perform and does not require training. The other, the visual water maze, is more demanding but provides a true quantitative readout of vision performance.