Abstract
Adaptive optics (AO) is a technique that allows for microscopic access to the retina. By correcting optical imperfections of the eye in both directions, AO can improve retinal images as well as images that land on the retina. The adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) is a modality that is well-suited do both of these simultaneously and represents a novel method for determining optical, retinal and neural limits to human vision. We used AOSLO to compare AO-corrected visual acuity between emmetropes and low myopes and found that the low myopes performed about 25% worse after AO-correction than the emmetropes. There are several possible reasons for this difference: i) Our myopes have an increased angular cone spacing of 25%, which is unlikely given that we recruited only low myopes in our study (mean spherical equivalent error of −2.73D). ii) Our myopes have a mild form of amblyopia, having lived in a more chronically blurred environment than the emmetropes. To examine the differences in VA further we are working to correlate visual performance with cone spacing in emmetropes and myopes, considering the possible role of eye movements for visual acuity and developing new methods to measure how well the brain knows where its photoreceptors are.
NIH - EY014375, NSF - 9876783