Research overview: dark adaptation in the feline visual system

Dark adaptation is the process by which an eye recovers sensitivity after exposure to bright light, as pigment regenerates and neural gain rises. This overview surveys what is known about the time course of dark adaptation in cats, drawing on electrophysiological recordings of the retina and visual pathway. Like other rod-dominated animals, cats show a substantial sensitivity gain over minutes in darkness as rhodopsin regenerates in the rods. The topic connects to everyday behavior: a cat moving from a lit room into a dark one needs time before its night vision reaches full sensitivity, and the tapetum and wide pupil shorten the practical gap. Studies of feline dark adaptation have also contributed to general models of how vertebrate retinas adjust their working range across many orders of magnitude of light intensity.