Preserving of vision is the main goal in vision research. The presented research evaluates the preservation of visual function in Royal College of Surgeon (RCS) rats using a depth perception test. Rats were placed on a stage with one side containing an illusory steep drop (“cliff”) and another side with a minimal drop (“table”). Latency of stage dismounting and the percentage of rats that set their first foot on the “cliff” side were determined. Nondystrophic Long–Evans (LE) rats were tested as control. Electroretinogram and histology analysis were used to determine retinal function and structure. Four-week-old RCS rats presented a significantly shorter mean latency to dismount the stage compared with 6-week-old rats (mean ± standard error, 13.7 ± 1.68 vs. 20.85 ± 6.5 s, P = 0.018). Longer latencies were recorded as rats aged, reaching 45.72 s in 15-week-old rats (P < 0.00001 compared with 4-week-old rats). All rats at the age of 4 weeks placed their first foot on the table side. By contrast, at the age of 8 weeks, 28.6% rats dismounted on the cliff side and at the age of 10 and 15 weeks, rats randomly dismounted the stage to either table or cliff side. LE rats dismounted the stage faster than 4-week-old RCS rats, but the difference was not statistically significant (7 ± 1.58 s, P = 0.057) and all LE rats dismounted on the table side. The latency to dismount the stage in RCS rats correlated with maximal electroretinogram b-wave under dark and light adaptation (Spearman’s rho test = −0.603 and −0.534, respectively, all P < 0.0001), outer nuclear layer thickness (Spearman’s rho test = −0.764, P = 0.002), and number of S- and M-cones (Spearman’s rho test = −0.763 [P = 0.002], and −0.733 [P = 0.004], respectively). The cliff avoidance test is an objective, quick, and readily available method for the determination of RCS rats’ visual function.

Dopamine is one of the major neurotransmitters in the retina. It is released from amacrine and interplexiform cells into both inner (IPL) and outer (OPL) plexiform layers. Several dopaminergic actions are known to occur through D1 receptors (D1R) but the precise location of these receptors has not been established. An antibody that recognizes the intracytoplasmic C-terminal of the rat D1R was used to detect D1R, immunohistochemically, in rats (Wistar and RCS), mouse, hamster, and macaque monkey retinas. The OPL was heavily stained in each species, consistent with the known actions of dopamine on horizontal cells. Three to five bands were observed in the IPL, depending on species. Three were in the a sublayer, the outermost of which was close to the amacrine cell layer, and may represent the massive dopamine input to the AII rod-amacrine cells. As observed in mice, where bipolar cells are D1-immunoreactive, the band located in sublayer 3 of the IPL may contain cone-bipolar cell terminals. A band of D1R-immunoreactivity in the b sublayer of the IPL contains ON-bipolar cell terminals and a second site of interaction between dopaminergic cells and the AII amacrine cells. This sublayer was absent from the RCS rat retina, suggesting a severe impairment of the rod-driven pathway following rod degeneration in these mutant rats. Cells in the ganglion cell layer exhibited relatively heavy staining, and may be ganglion cells or displaced amacrine cells. Some extrasynaptic localizations of D1R in the retina are suggested.