Abstract
A selective review of the contemporary understanding of development of infant visual acuity is presented together with recent developments in methodology to detect this change. References are confined, wherever possible, to human infant studies relating to factors explaining the development of acuity. Results obtained from a two year study of the development of grating acuity in normal infants are discussed briefly. The findings indicate the importance of establishing acuity norms and sensitivity of interocular acuity difference as an important parameter in the detection of monocular visual deficit in clinical practice.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Hendrickson AE, Yuodelis C : The morphological development of the human fovea. Ophthalmology 1984, 91: 603–12.
Magoon EH and Robb RM : Development of myelin in human optic nerve and tract. A light and electron microscopic study. Arch Ophthalmol 1981, 99: 655–9.
Yakovlev PL and Lecours A : The myelogenetic cycles of regional maturation of the brain. In: Minkowski A. (ed) Regional development of brain in early life. Blackwell. Oxford. 1967.
Hickey TL : Postnatal development of the human lateral geniculate nucleus: Relationship to a critical period for the visual system. Science 1977, 198: 836–8.
Huttenlocher PR, de Courten C, Garey LJ, van der Loos H : Synaptogenesis in human visual cortex— Evidence for synapse elimination during normal development. Neurosci Lett 1982, 33: 247–52.
Blakemore C and Vital-Durand F : Postnatal development of the monkeys visual system. The Fetus and Independent Life CIBA 1981a, 86: 152–71.
Blakemore C and Vital-Durand F : Development of spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity in monkey visual cortex. Neurosci Abstr 1981b, 7: 140–8.
Blakemore C and Vital-Durand F : Development of contrast sensitivity by neurones in monkey striate cortex. J. Physiol 1982, 334: 18–19.
Fantz RL, Ordy M, Udelf MS : Maturation of pattern vision in infants during the first six months. J Comp Physiol Psychol 1962, 55: 907–17.
Gwiazda J, Brill S, Mohindra I, Held R : Infant visual acuity and its meridional variation. Vision Res 1978, 18: 1557–64.
Dobson V and Teller DY : Visual acuity in human infants: a review and comparison of behavioural and electrophysiological studies. Vision Res 1978, 18:, 1469–83.
Teller DY : The forced-choice preferential looking procedure: A psychophysical technique for use with human infants. Infant Behav Devel 1979, 2: 135–53.
Mayer DL and Dobson V : Visual acuity development in infants and young children as assessed by operant preferential looking. Vision Res 1982, 22: 1141–51.
Birch EE, Gwiazda J, Bauer JA Jr., Naegele J, Held R : Visual acuity and its meridional variation in children aged 7–60 months. Vision Res 1983, 23: 1019–24.
McDonald MA, Dobson V, Sebris SL, Baitch L, Varner D, Teller DY : The acuity card procedure: a rapid test of infant acuity. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1985, 26: 538–43.
Simons K : Visual acuity norms in young children. Surv Ophthalmol 1983, 28: 84–92.
Teller DY, McDonald M, Preston K, Sebris SL, Dobson V : Assessment of visual acuity in infants and children: The acuity card procedure. Devl Med Child Neurol 1986, 28: 779–89.
Pearson CM, Chandna A, Doran RML : Preferential Looking: The state of the art. Br Orthop J 1989, 46: 66–72.
Dobson V : Clinical applicatios of preferential looking measures of visual acuity. Behav Brain Res 1983, 10: 25–38.
Fantz RL and Fagan JF : Visual attention to size and number of pattern details by term and preterm infants during the first six months. Child Develop 1975, 46: 428–32.
Van Hof-Van Duin J and Mohn G : The development of visual acuity in normal full term and preterm infants. Vision Res 1986, 26: 909–16.
Birch EE and Hale LA : Criteria for monocular acuity deficit in infancy and early childhood. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1988, 29: 636–43.
Dobson V, Schwartz TL, Sandstrom DJ, Michel L : Binocular visual acuity in neonates: the acuity card procedure. Devel Med Child Neurol 1987, 29: 199–206.
Campbell RW and Maffei L . Electrophysiological evidence for existence of orientation and size detectors in the human visual system. J Physiol 1970, 207: 635–52.
Sokol S : Measurement of infant visual acuity from pattern reversal evoked potentials. Vision Res 1978, 18: 33–9.
Tyler CW, Apakarian P, Levi DM, Nakayama K : Rapid assessment of visual function: an electronic sweep technique with pattern visual evoked potential. Invest Ophthalmol 1979, 18: 703–19.
Norcia AM and Tyler CW : Spatial frequency sweep VEP: Visual acuity during the first year of life. Vision Res 1989, 25: 1399–1408.
Hamer RD, Norcia AM, Tyler CW, Hsu-Winges C : The development of monocular and binocular VEP acuity. Vision Res 1989, 29: 397–408.
Marg E, Freeman RD, Peltzman P, Goldstein PJ . Visual acuity development in human infants: evoked potential measurements. Invest Ophthalmol Visual Sci 1976, 15: 150–3.
Chandna A, Pearson CM, Doran RML : Preferential Looking in clinical practice: A year's experience. Eye 1988, 2: 488–95.
Silverman BW : Some aspects of the spline smoothing approach to non-parametric regression curve fitting (with discussion) J Roy Stat Soc 1985 Ser B, 47: 1–52.
McDonald MA, Sebris SL, Mohn G, Teller DY, Dobson V : Monocular acuity in normal infants: the acuity card procedure. Am J Optom Physiol Opt 1986a, 63: 181–6.
Birch EE : Infant interocular acuity differences and binocular vision. Vision Res 1985, 25: 571–6.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chandna, A. Natural history of the development of visual acuity in infants. Eye 5, 20–26 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1991.4
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1991.4
This article is cited by
-
Strabismus in infants following congenital cataract surgery
Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology (2015)
-
Results of intraocular lens implantation in paediatric aphakia
Eye (1992)