近视青少年在阅读状态下调节反应和像差的研究

背景近距离工作时,视网膜的成像质量受调节、瞳孔和像差的共同影响;而近距离工作时视网膜成像的清晰度又被认为是青少年近视发生发展的可能诱因。因此,研究近视及正视青少年在阅读状态下的眼动参数和像差的差异性显得尤为重要。目的研究有初发性近视和进展性近视的青少年在阅读状态下的调节反应、瞳孔直径和像差的差异,从视网膜离焦诱导近视和像差诱导近视这两个假说探讨调节反应和像差与近视发生发展的相关机制。方法57例年龄12～16岁青少年受试者分为正视组16眼、初发性近视组20眼和进展性近视组21眼。嘱受试者阅读左眼前25effl处电脑显示屏上由快速序列视觉呈现方式软件所呈现的一篇中文短文,用SEIKO—WV500型自动验光仪测量调节反应,实时录像记录瞳孔直径,并用WASCA波前像差仪测量像差,对3组间的结果进行比较。结果各组受试者的调节反应和像差的个体差异均较大,在4D的调节刺激下,初发性近视组和进展性近视组的调节滞后值为（1．72±0．53）D,（1．74±0．44）D,高于正视组的（0．96±0．55）D,差异有统计学意义（t=4．25、t=4．47,P〈0．01）。初发性近视组和进展性近视组的调节滞后差异无统计学意义（t=0．18,P〉0．05）。调节刺激在0～4D时,所有受试者的瞳孔直径、全眼像差、高阶像差、球差和彗差均随着调节力的增加而显著减小（P〈0．01）,但在同一调节刺激下,不同屈光组之间受试者的瞳孔直径、全眼像差、高阶像差、球差和彗差的差异均无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。结论初发性近视和近视进展过程中在近距离阅读状态下存在较高的调节滞后,近距离阅读状态下对离焦的低模糊敏感性、较高的调节滞后及远视性离焦可能是近视发生、发展的促进因素。     

Blur sensitivity in myopes.

PURPOSE: This study compared the ability of myopes and emmetropes to detect subjectively the presence of retinal defocus. METHODS: Subjects (12 myopes, 12 emmetropes) were cyclopleged and monocularly viewed a bipartite target through an appropriate near addition lens via a 2-mm artificial pupil. One-half of the target remained fixed while the other half was alternatively moved forward or backward until subjects first reported a difference in clarity between the two halves of the target. RESULTS: The mean blur threshold for the emmetropes and myopes was +/-0.11 and +/-0.19 D, respectively (p = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that myopes are less sensitive to the presence of blur, and may at least partially explain why previous reports have demonstrated a larger lag of accommodation in this refractive group. Additionally, the hyperopic retinal defocus resulting from the increased accommodative error may play a significant role in myopia development and progression.     

Facility of accommodation in myopia

PURPOSE: Myopes have been shown to have abnormal accommodative characteristics. This study investigated the characteristics of accommodation facility in myopic and emmetropic students. METHODS: Distance and near positive and negative accommodation response time components of facility were measured over a 1 min period using a -2.00 D/zero lens pair for distance responses and a +/-2.00 D lens pair for near responses. 79 students (37 myopes and 42 emmetropes) aged 18-27 years acted as subjects. Subjects were masked, and the results were analysed in a masked fashion. RESULTS: Mean distance facility was significantly lower (9.7 cycles per minute (cpm)) in the myopic group compared with the mean distance facility in the emmetropic group (15.6 cpm; p < 0.005). There was no significant difference in the near facilities of the two groups (11.5 cpm in myopes vs 12.9 cpm in emmetropes). Positive accommodation response time for distance vision was greater than 4 s in 45% of myopes and in 9% of emmetropes. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm that myopes tend to have abnormal accommodation responses to blur. Distance facility, but not near facility of accommodation is more frequently reduced in myopes than in emmetropes.     

快速序列视觉呈现方式阅读状态下不同屈光组调节反应的差异

目的研究快速序列视觉呈现方式（rapid serial visual presentation．RSVP）阅读状态下进展性近视、稳定性近视和正视之间调节反应的差异，探讨调节因素在近视发生、发展过程中的表达。方法45例受试者参加本实验，分为进展性近视、稳定性近视和正视组，各15例。阅读材料为位于距受试者左眼角膜平面25cm处的电脑显示屏上的一篇中文短文．通过RSVP软件呈现单个字符．字体大小为9pt，文字呈现速度为150字／min。使用SEIKO—WV500自动验光仪测量其开放视野阅读状态下左眼的调节反应。结果所有受试者在4D的调节刺激下，均存在一定程度的调节滞后，个体差异较大。进展性近视组的调节反应低于正视组[（2．32±0．43）0VS（3．19±0．53）0，P〈0．01]，进展性近视组的调节反应亦低于稳定性近视组[（2．32±0．43）0VS（3.07±0．34）D，P〈0．01]，而正视组和稳定性近视组差异无显著性（P=0．441）。结论近距离阅读状态下进展性近视有较高的调节滞后，远视性离焦造成的模糊斑可能是近视的发生发展的促成因素，随着近视发展的稳定．调节反应恢复至一般水平。     

Accommodative lag before and after the onset of myopia

PURPOSE: To evaluate accommodative lag before, during the year of, and after the onset of myopia in children who became myopic, compared with emmetropes. METHODS: The subjects were 568 children who became myopic (at least -0.75 D in each meridian) and 539 children who were emmetropic (between -0.25 D and +1.00 D in each meridian at all visits) participating between 1995 and 2003 in the Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Ethnicity and Refractive Error (CLEERE) Study. Accommodative lag was measured annually with either a Canon R-1 (Canon USA., Lake Success, NY; no longer manufactured) or a Grand Seiko WR 5100-K (Grand Seiko Co., Hiroshima, Japan) autorefractor. Subjects wore their habitual refractive corrections while viewing a letter target accommodative stimulus of 4 D (either in a Badal system or at 25 cm from the subject, designated Badal and near, respectively) or of 2 D (Badal only). Refractive error was measured with the same autorefractor in subjects under cycloplegia. Accommodative lag in children who became myopic was compared to age-, gender-, and ethnicity-matched model estimates of emmetropic values for each annual visit from 5 years before, through 5 years after, the onset of myopia. RESULTS: In the sample as a whole, accommodative lag was not significantly different in children who became myopic compared with model estimates in emmetropes in any year before onset of myopia for either the 4-D or 2-D Badal stimulus. For the 4-D near target, there was only a greater amount of accommodative lag in children who became myopic compared with emmetropes 4 years before onset (difference, 0.22 D; P = 0.0002). Accommodative lag was not significantly elevated during the year of onset of myopia in any of the three measurement conditions (P < 0.82 for all three). A consistently higher lag was seen in children after the onset of their myopia (range, 0.13-0.56 D; P < 0.004 for all comparisons). These patterns were generally followed by each ethnic group, with Asian children typically showing the most, African-American and white children showing the least, and Hispanic children having intermediate accommodative lag. CONCLUSIONS: Substantive and consistent elevations in accommodative lag relative to model estimates of lag in emmetropes did not occur in children who became myopic before the onset of myopia or during the year of onset. Increased accommodative lag occurred in children after the onset of myopia. Elevated accommodative lag is unlikely to be a useful predictive factor for the onset of myopia. Increased hyperopic defocus from accommodative lag may be a consequence rather than a cause of myopia.     

Transient Axial Length Change during the Accommodation Response in Young Adults

PURPOSE: To measure the degree of transient axial elongation during the accommodation response in emmetropic and myopic young adults. To evaluate the effect of refractive error and accommodative demand on transient axial elongation of the eye. METHODS: Axial length of the right eye was measured in 30 emmetropes and 30 myopes, by using the IOLMaster (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, CA), while accommodative stimuli of 0, 2, 4 and 6 D were presented with a Badal optometer. RESULTS: Axial length increased in both emmetropic and myopic subjects during short periods of accommodative stimulation. Greater transient increases in axial length were observed in myopic than in emmetropic subjects. The mean axial elongation with a 6-D stimulus to accommodation was 0.037 mm in emmetropes and 0.058 mm in myopes (P = 0.02). The degree of transient axial elongation correlated well with the stimulus to accommodation in emmetropes and myopes. Anterior chamber depth decreased, on average, by 0.19 mm in emmetropes and 0.18 mm in myopes when observing a 6-D stimulus to accommodation. CONCLUSIONS: During relatively short periods of accommodative stimulation, axial length increases in both emmetropic and myopic young adults. At higher levels of accommodative stimulation, a significantly greater transient increase in axial length is observed in myopic subjects than in their emmetropic counterparts.     

Accommodative adaptation and age of onset of myopia

Tonic accommodation in an empty field and accommodative adaptation, defined as accommodation shift after 2 min viewing of a 4 D near task, were measured using an infrared optometer. Subjects were classified into three types: emmetropes ( n = 18). early onset myopes ( n = 18) and late onset myopes ( n = 15). The relationship between accommodative adaptation and the onset age of myopia were compared. There was no statistical difference in the pre-task ionic accommodation among the three subject groups. However, the accommodative adaptation differed in the three groups during the 5 min post-task period. The average accommodative adaptation of emmetropia. early onset myopia and late onset myopia were 0.66. 0.27 and 1.19 D. respectively. Accommodative adaptation in the late onset myopia group was significantly higher than in the emmetropia group. Furthermore, the accommodative adaptation in the early onset myopia group was significantly lower than in the emmetropia group. Two possible aetiologies of myopia are discussed: one for the group which shows low accommodative adaptation that has no relationship with the age of onset and another for the group which shows high accommodative adaptation that has a relationship to an onset age of 15 years or later. The aetiology is also considered with regard to a potentiating chemical effect on the synapses of the ciliary muscle.     

Differences in the accommodation stimulus response curves of adult myopes and emmetropes

While the accommodation system has been implicated in myopia development, the nature of this relationship remains obscure. This study investigated the differences in accommodation stimulus response curves between adult myopes and emmetropes. Myopic subjects were classified according to age of onset and stability of their myopia. Accommodation stimulus response curves were measured using three different methods: (i) real targets presented at viewing distances of 4 m to 0.25 m, (ii) a target at 4 m viewed through negative lenses of increasing power, and (iii) a target at 0.25 m viewed through positive lenses of decreasing power. A Canon Autoref R-1 measured the accommodation responses at 5 levels of demand (increasing from 0 D to 4 D in 1 D steps). We found significant differences between the three methods used to stimulate an accommodation response in all subject groups, for example, accommodation lags at high accommodative demands were greatest for the negative lens series and least for the positive lens series. In addition, while differences between early-onset myopes, late-onset myopes and emmetropes were not observed, we did observe differences when myopic subjects were reclassified according to whether their myopia was progressing or stable. A reduced accommodation response to negative lens-induced accommodative demand was found in progressing myopes but not in stable myopes. These results provide further evidence for the link between myopia progression and inaccurate accommodation. The data also suggest that adult myopes with stable refractive errors show accommodation responses similar to that of emmetropes.     

Synkinesis of accommodation and vergence in late-onset myopia

The accommodative response (AR) to disparity-vergence and blur stimuli was determined for 45 subjects; 15 emmetropes, 15 late-onset myopes (LOM's), and 15 early-onset myopes (EOM's). The accommodative response was measured at approximately 1-s intervals for 50 s using an objective infrared optometer. Disparity-driven accommodation was induced by a 4 delta base-out prism at accommodative stimulus levels of 2.50 and 3.25 D. LOM's show significantly higher levels of disparity-induced accommodation when compared with the other two refractive groups. Blur-induced accommodation was produced by increasing the accommodative stimulus from 2.50 to 3.25 D with no concomitant change in vergence stimulus. EOM's exhibit less blur-induced accommodation compared with LOM's and emmetropes. These results are discussed with reference to differences in accommodation-vergence synkinesis between LOM's and EOM's, and in relation to the etiology of late-onset myopia.     

Accommodation, accommodative convergence, and response AC/A ratios before and at the onset of myopia in children.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate accommodation, accommodative convergence, and AC/A ratios before and at the onset of myopia in children. METHODS: Refractive error, accommodation, and phorias were measured annually over a period of 3 years in 80 6- to 18-year-old children (mean age at first visit = 11.1 years), including 26 who acquired myopia of at least -0.50 D and 54 who remained emmetropic (-0.25 to + 0.75 D). Refraction was measured by noncycloplegic distance retinoscopy. Concomitant measures of accommodation and phorias were taken for letter targets at 4.0 m and 0.33 m using the Canon R-1 open field-of-view autorefractor with an attached motorized Risley prism and Maddox rod. The accommodation and phoria measurements were used to calculate response AC/A ratios. RESULTS: Compared with children who remained emmetropic, those who became myopic had elevated response AC/A ratios at 1 and 2 years before the onset of myopia, in addition to at onset and 1 year later (t's = -2.97 to -4.04, p < 0.01 at all times). The significantly higher AC/A ratios in the children who became myopic are a result of significantly reduced accommodation. Accommodative convergence was significantly greater in myopes only at onset. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the abnormal oculomotor factors found before the onset of myopia may contribute to myopigenesis by producing hyperopic retinal defocus when a child is engaged in near-viewing tasks.     

Sympathetic innervation of ciliary muscle and oculomotor function in emmetropic and myopic young adults

PURPOSE: Evidence exists for an additional inhibitory accommodative control system mediated by the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). This work aims to show the relative prevalence of sympathetic inhibition in young emmetropic and myopic adults, and to evaluate the effect of sympathetic facility on accommodative and oculomotor function. METHODS: Profiling of ciliary muscle innervation was carried out in 58 young adult subjects (30 emmetropes, 14 early onset myopes, 14 late onset myopes) by examining post-task open-loop accommodation responses, recorded continuously by a modified open-view infrared optometer. Measurements of amplitude of accommodation, tonic accommodation, accommodative lag at near, AC/A ratio, and heterophoria at distance and near were made to establish a profile of oculomotor function. RESULTS: Evidence of sympathetic inhibitory facility in ciliary smooth muscle was observed in 27% of emmetropes, 21% of early-onset myopes and 29% of late-onset myopes. Twenty-six percent of all subjects demonstrated access to sympathetic facility. Closed-loop oculomotor function did not differ significantly between subjects with sympathetic facility, and those with sympathetic deficit. CONCLUSIONS: Emmetropic and myopic groups cannot be distinguished in terms of the relative proportions having access to sympathetic inhibition. Presence of sympathetic innervation does not have a significant effect on accommodative function under closed-loop viewing conditions.     

Increased accommodation following adaptation to image blur in myopes

Prolonged exposure to blurred images produces perceptual adaptation (M. A. Webster, M. A., Georgeson, & S. M. Webster, 2002). The purpose of this study is to test whether in addition to the reported change in perceived blur there is also a change in accommodation. Young adult (aged 18 to 31 years) myopic (n = 23) and emmetropic (n = 17) subjects participated in the study. Myopes were tested with contact lenses and had corrected monocular visual acuity of 20/20 or better. Accommodation was measured binocularly with a PowerRefractor, an eccentric infrared photorefractor. Accommodation for a near target (high-contrast text at 0.33 m) was measured for 2 min before and immediately after 3 min of blur exposure. Blur was induced using 0.2 Bangerter diffusing filters in front of both eyes. In addition, accommodation was measured for a far target (high-contrast letters at 4.0 m) before and after the near measurements, with each subject's initial far readings used as a baseline for calculating the accommodative responses at near. Compared to the pre-adaptation level, myopes showed a significant (p < .01) increase in the near accommodative response after 3 min of blur adaptation, while accommodation to the near target in emmetropes did not change. In a second experiment using monocular viewing, the increase of accommodation found in myopes was shown to occur during the period of blur exposure. The refractive group differences in the accommodative response may be related to differences in the habitual response to image clarity between myopes and emmetropes under normal viewing conditions.     

Retinotopic accommodation responses in myopia

PURPOSE: A reduced sensitivity to retinal image blur has been reported in myopes. Diminished blur detection reduces the error signal to the retinotopic (blur-induced) accommodation system and results in impaired accommodation responses under retinotopic conditions. This study was conducted to investigate retinotopic accommodation responses in emmetropia and myopia under dynamic conditions. METHODS: Static accommodation responses to a blur-only target with vergences of 0 to 4.5 D were measured with an optometer. Microfluctuations of accommodation were recorded with the subject viewing the target at a vergence of 4 D, and dynamic step responses were measured for step stimuli from 2.5 to 3.5 D and 2.0 to 4.0 D, with the optometer in dynamic recording mode. Measurements were obtained from a group of 32 visually normal emmetropes (EMMs) and subjects with progressing myopia. RESULTS: Stimulus-response curves were not significantly different between the refractive groups. Subjects with late-onset myopia (LOMs) demonstrated significantly larger accommodation microfluctuations compared with emmetropes and subjects with early-onset myopia (EOMs). Fourier analysis revealed that the increase in the magnitude of the fluctuations was mediated by the low-frequency components. Accommodation step responses revealed longer reaction times in LOMs. Further analysis showed that LOMs responded to accommodation step stimuli only between 43% and 64% of the time. In contrast, the other groups showed a response rate of almost 100%. CONCLUSIONS: The experiments demonstrate a reduction in retinotopic processing in LOMs, which results in an increased variability in their dynamic accommodation response to stationary near targets and reduced performance for dynamic step tasks. The results demonstrate a reduced blur appreciation under dynamic conditions in these refractive groups that may lead to periods of retinal image blur of varying magnitude during near work.     

Visual acuity and the accuracy of the accommodative response

Previous investigators have observed that some subjects show large amounts of accommodative lag. We hypothesized that less accurate accommodation might be associated with poorer visual acuity and/or smaller pupil sizes. Sixty subjects (30 emmetropes and 30 myopes) aged 20-30 years, participated. All had best-corrected visual acuity of 6/6 or better [mean = -0.10 +/- 0.07 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR)]. Subjects monocularly viewed reduced Bailey-Lovie charts through a +6.50 D Badal lens on a Canon R1 auto-refractor. Visual acuity, accommodative response and pupil diameter were measured for 0, 2 and 4 D accommodative stimuli. For accommodation measurements (N= 10) subjects were instructed to fixate the smallest letters that they could read. The mean accommodative response was +0.22 +/- 0.28, +1.83 +/- 0.23 and +3.71 +/- 0.27 D for the 0, 2 and 4 D stimuli, respectively. The mean visual acuity was -0.06 +/- 0.10, -0.11 +/- 0.07 and -0.11 +/- 0.07 logMAR for the 0, 2 and 4 D stimuli, respectively. Visual acuity for the 0 D stimulus was significantly poorer than for other conditions (p < 0.001) and associated with increased accommodative lead (p < 0.01). There was also an association between visual acuity and accommodative response (or lag) for the 4 D stimulus (p=0.002). The emmetropes showed significantly better visual acuity than the myopes (p= 0.004). No significant difference was observed in the accommodative response between emmetropes and myopes. Pupil diameter was not associated with the accuracy of the accommodative response (p > 0.17). Increased accommodative lead (0 D stimulus) and accommodative lag (4 D stimulus) are associated with decreased visual acuity. Smaller pupil diameters are not associated with increased accommodative lag.     

儿童和青少年近视调节功能的临床分析

目的 探讨发病早期的儿童和青少年近视的调节功能状态,分析主导眼和非主导眼的调节功能水平.方法 应用动态检影法和移近法分别测量50例发病1～2年的学龄期儿童和青少年近视患儿调节滞后和调节幅度;同样方法测量20例正视儿童和25例远视屈光不正患儿;检测其主导眼和非主导眼.结果 近视患儿的主导眼和非主导眼的调节幅度和调节滞后与正视儿童均差异无统计学意义;而其主导眼和非主导眼的调节幅度比远视患儿明显更大(t=2.21,P=0.03＜0.05;t=2.83,P=0.006＜0.05);两组的调节滞后差异无统计学意义.50例近视患儿主导眼和非主导眼的调节滞后值分别为(0.73±0.31)D和(0.81±0.38)D,主导眼和非主导眼间差异有统计学意义(t=2.14,P=0.038＜0.05);调节幅度分别为(13.39±3.51)D和(13.26±3.60)D,差异无统计学意义.95例观察对象(近视、正视和远视患儿)的主导眼的调节滞后度为(0.68±0.36)D,非主导眼调节滞后度为(0.75±0.34)D,主导眼和非主导眼间的差异有统计学意义(t=2.06,P=0.042＜0.05);主导眼调节幅度(12.9±3.09)D,非主导眼为(12.6±3.09)D,差异无统计学意义(t=1.49,P=0.14).结论 发病早期的儿童和青少年近视的调节滞后值和调节幅度与正视儿童无明显差别;调节幅度比远视儿童的更大.儿童和青少年主导眼的调节滞后比非主导眼的更小,进行调节滞后相关研究时应注意主导眼和非主导眼的区别.     

Effect of accommodative adaptation on static and dynamic accommodation in emmetropia and late-onset myopia.

PURPOSE: Prolonged near work is considered to be an environmental factor leading to the development of late-onset myopia. Accommodation may be the specific mechanism underlying the association between near work and late-onset myopia. To determine whether late-onset myopes have abnormal accommodation, we compared accommodative static responses and dynamic facilities before and after a near task in two groups of subjects, emmetropes and late-onset myopes. METHODS: In experiment 1, the accommodative stimulus/response function with monocular viewing and the dark focus (the accommodative response in the dark) were objectively measured with a Canon R-1 infrared optometer before (preadaptation) and after (postadaptation) a 20-min near task. In experiment 2, monocular accommodative facility (AF) and dark focus were measured before and after the near task. Facility was measured as the subjective time needed to clear an accommodative target (20/40 letters) at 40 cm through +/-2.00 D lenses. The time between when the subject flipped the lenses from viewing through the +2.00 D to the -2.00 D lenses was recorded by a computer. RESULTS: In both experiments, inward shifts of the dark focus were observed after the near task. In experiment 1, after the near task, static accommodative responses also showed a small but statistically significant inward shift. Neither postadaptation effect differed between refractive groups. The only difference between groups was that late-onset myopes had a lower slope of the accommodative stimulus/response function, both pre- and postadaptation. In experiment 2, both refractive groups showed the same results. After the near task, the duration for accommodation from near to far (relaxation) increased but the duration for accommodation from far to near (stimulation) did not change. CONCLUSIONS: Late-onset myopes have shallower accommodative stimulus/response functions. As suggested in a previous study, this may be due to their reduced sensitivity to defocus. In both emmetropes and late-onset myopes, the near task causes an increase in static accommodative responses. Although our results show it to be a small increase, it is consistent with predictions of Hung and Semmlow's model of accommodation. In both emmetropes and late-onset myopes, the near task also increases the duration for relaxing accommodation, but not for stimulating accommodation. This suggests there are two subsystems which may adapt to prolonged accommodation differently.     

The effect of a beta-adrenoceptor antagonist on accommodative adaptation in Hong Kong children

PURPOSE: Increased susceptibility to nearwork-induced accommodative adaptation has been suggested as a risk factor for myopia development. We investigated whether accommodative adaptation may explain in part the high prevalence of myopia in Hong Kong children and examined the effect of beta-antagonism with topical timolol maleate on accommodative adaptation.Methods: Thirty children (10 emmetropes and 20 myopes) aged between 8 and 12 years were recruited. Tonic accommodation was measured before and after 5 min of video game-playing using an open-field Shin-Nippon autorefractor. Measurements were repeated 30 min after timolol instillation. RESULTS: Children with progressing myopia demonstrated accommodative adaptation following the near task, whereas stable myopes showed counter-adaptive, hyperopic accommodative changes. Timolol increased the magnitude of accommodative adaptation in the stable myopes but had little effect on responses of the progressing myopes or emmetropes. CONCLUSIONS: Neuropharmacological modulation of the accommodative system may have a possible etiological role in the progression of myopia.     

The effect of blur adaptation on accommodative response and pupil size during reading

To study the effect of blur adaptation on accommodative variability, accommodative responses and pupil diameters in myopes (n = 22) and emmetropes (n = 19) were continuously measured before, during, and after exposure to defocus blur. Accommodative and pupillary response measurements were made by an autorefractor during a monocular reading exercise. The text was presented on a computer screen at 33 cm viewing distance with a rapid serial visual presentation paradigm. After baseline testing and a 5-min rest, blur was induced by wearing either an optimally refractive lens, or a +1.0 DS or a +3.0 DS defocus lens. Responses were continuously measured during a 5-min period of adaptation. The lens was then removed, and measurements were again made during a 5-min post-adaptation period. After a second 5-min rest, a final post-adaptation period was measured. No significant change of baseline accommodative responses was found after the 5-min period of adaptation to the blurring lenses (p > 0.05). Compared to the pre-adaptation level, both refractive groups had similar and significant increases in accommodative variability right after blur adaptation to both defocus lenses. After the second rest period, the accommodative variability in both groups returned to the pre-adaptation level. The results indicate that blur adaptation has a short-term effect on the accommodative system to elevate instability of the accommodative response. Mechanisms underlying the increase in accommodative variability by blur adaptation and possible influences of the accommodation stability on myopia development were discussed.     

Accommodation, pupil diameter and myopia

Concurrent measurements of steady-state accommodation response/stimulus curves and of pupil diameter were made in groups ( n  = 20) of young, adult myopes [age (mean ± SD) 23.1 ± 4.5 years, mean-sphere error (MSE) −3.06 ± 2.35 D, range −0.60 to −8.54 D] and emmetropes (mean age 25.3 ± 5.7 years, mean MSE −0.07 ± 0.26 D, range −0.50 to +0.50 D). The aim of this study was to explore the possibilities that pupil diameters with relaxed accommodation were larger, and that accommodative miosis was weaker, in the myopic group. Such behaviour would lead to relatively greater degradation of the retinal images in the myopic group, even though aberrations at constant pupil diameter and dioptric accommodative lags in the two groups were the same: this might result in excessive axial growth and further myopia development. No evidence for any systematic refractive dependence of pupillary characteristics or accommodative responses was found. Interestingly, those subjects whose response/stimulus curves had a higher slope tended to display greater accommodative miosis, irrespective of their refractive error.