Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods of increasing retinal responsiveness to light in a subject, such as a subject with retinal degeneration. The disclosed methods include administering one or more compounds that decrease or inhibit ?-aminobutyric acid (GABA) signaling to a subject with retinal degeneration. In some embodiments, the methods include selecting a subject with retinal degeneration and administering a ?-aminobutyric acid C (GABAC) receptor antagonist to the subject. In one example, the GABAC receptor antagonist is (1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridin-4-yl)methylphosphinic acid (TPMPA). In other embodiments, the methods include selecting a subject with retinal degeneration and administering a metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) antagonist to the subject. In one example, the mGluR antagonist is a mGlu1 receptor antagonist (for example, JNJ16259685).