Abstract

Purpose: To determine whether changes in wavefront spherical curvature (optical vergence) are a directional cue for accommodation. Methods: Nine subjects participated in this experiment. The accommodation response to a monochromatic target was measured continuously with a custom-made adaptive optics system while astigmatism and higher-order aberrations were corrected in real time. There were two experimental open-loop conditions: vergence-driven condition, where the deformable mirror provided sinusoidal changes in defocus at the retina between -1 and +1 diopters (D) at 0.2 Hz; and blur-driven condition, in which the level of defocus at the retina was always 0 D, but a sinusoidal defocus blur between -1 and +1 D at 0.2 Hz was simulated in the target. Right before the beginning of each trial, the target was moved to an accommodative demand of 2 D. Results: Eight out of nine subjects showed sinusoidal responses for the vergence-driven condition but not for the blur-driven condition. Their average (±SD) gain for the vergence-driven condition was 0.50 (±0.28). For the blur-driven condition, average gain was much smaller at 0.07 (±0.03). The ninth subject showed little to no response for both conditions, with average gain <0.08. Vergence-driven condition gain was significantly different from blur-driven condition gain (P = 0.004). Conclusions: Accommodation responds to optical vergence, even without feedback, and not to changes in defocus blur alone. These results suggest the presence of a retinal mechanism that provides a directional cue for accommodation from optical vergence.

DOI

10.1167/iovs.16-21280

Publication Date

2017-03-01

Publication Title

Investigative Opthalmology & Visual Science

Volume

58

Issue

3

Publisher

Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)

ISSN

1552-5783

Embargo Period

2024-11-19

First Page

1758

Last Page

1758

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