Pattern electroretinogram and luminance electroretinogram in Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Visual symptoms are often among the first complaints of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease and several studies showed a delay in flash visual evoked potentials. Hinton et al. (1986) described optic nerve degenerations in patients with Alzheimer's disease and Sadun published a dropout of retinal ganglion cells that range from 30% to 60%. The reduction of neurotransmitters, especially of acetylcholine, found in the brain might also occur in the retina. Therefore we examined the retinal functions of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. In eight patients the pattern-electroretinograms and the scotopic and photopic luminance-electroretinograms were recorded and compared to an age-matched control group. We could not find any abnormalities in the pattern- and the luminance electroretinograms of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Although cholinergic cells have been found in the retina, our results did not reveal an involvement of retinal functions in Morbus Alzheimer.