| Abstract: | Pupillary diameter of 10 infants (age 10 weeks) and four adult subjects was measured during 30 min of dark adaptation following exposure to a full-field adapting light. Adult results confirm that, under these conditions, the course of pupillary recovery was reasonably well described by an exponential time course (t0 = 408 sec; SD = 42 sec), as is rhodopsin regeneration. Pupillary recovery of infants also could be described by an exponential course (average t0 = 399 sec; SD = 31 sec). These results, demonstrating similarities between adaptive functions of infants and adults, suggest that pupillographic techniques can be used to investigate dynamic processes accompanying dark adaptation in preverbal children. |
