Standard Curve and the Physiological Limits of Dark Adaptation by Means of the Goldmann-Weekers Adaptometer

Abstract

UPON passing from light into darkness the light sensitivity of the eye in- creases. This phenomenon is explained by an increase in the sensitivity of the photoreceptor cells of the retina (cones and rods) and is called dark adaptation. First investigated by Aubert (1865), dark adaptation is now studied quantitatively through the dark-adaptation curve: the logarithm of the light threshold (ordinate) is plotted against the time in darkness (abscissa) after pre-adaptation to light under standard conditions.