Abstract
By using adaptive optics we showed that the neural visual system is adapted to the eye's particular aberrations (Artal, P, Chen, L., Fernández, E. J., Singer, B., Manzanera, S., & Williams, D. R. (2004). Neural compensation for the eye's optical aberrations. Journal of Vision, 4(4), 281–287). In this initial experiment, subjects were asked to view a stimulus through the adaptive optics system that either recreated their own aberrations or a rotated version of them. The stimulus seen with the subject's own aberrations were always sharper than when seen through the rotated versions. More recent experiments involved measuring visual acuity through the normal and rotated aberrations after some periods of adaptation to the modified aberrations (Artal, P, Chen, L., Manzanera, S., & Williams, D.R., ARVO, 2004). These experiments suggested that the visual system can partially readapt to unfamiliar aberrations after a relatively short time of adaptation (around 15–20 minutes). In this presentation, I will revise these previous results from experiments using the adaptive optics system. In addition, I will discuss the results we are now obtaining in experiments using contact lenses that modify the aberrations permitting to follow the adaptation effect during longer periods of time (around 10 hours). The impact of this adaptation mechanism in spatial visual performance will be also discussed.