Development of Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity in Children
Purpose: Most studies of visual development have concentrated on visual development of infants. Only a few studies have extended this to children and determined the point at which visual function becomes truly adult-like. Yet from a clinical and research perspective it is important to know this. Thi...
Main Authors: | , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Elsevier
2009-01-01
|
Series: | Journal of Optometry |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1888429609700196 |
id |
doaj-574455380e104421bceb348c0ef14523 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-574455380e104421bceb348c0ef145232020-11-24T21:43:51ZengElsevierJournal of Optometry1888-42962009-01-0121192610.3921/joptom.2009.19Development of Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity in ChildrenSusan J. LeatNaveen K. YadavElizabeth L. IrvingPurpose: Most studies of visual development have concentrated on visual development of infants. Only a few studies have extended this to children and determined the point at which visual function becomes truly adult-like. Yet from a clinical and research perspective it is important to know this. This review paper is a discussion of the development of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity into childhood. Methods: The literature on subjective (measured with preferential looking or psychophysical methods) and objective (visually-evoked potential) measures of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity was examined with particular emphasis on studies of children over the age of 5 years and those articles that compared different age groups and those that made a comparison with adults. Results: Visual acuity was found to be fully mature between the ages of 5 and the mid teenage years, while contrast sensitivity was found to mature fully between the ages of 8 to 19 years. Thus, there is still no clear answer to the fundamental question of when these basic aspects of visual function mature, but it may be later than previously thought. Conclusions: Further studies are needed to answer this basic question more precisely and objective measures, such as VEP, may be able to answer this question better than psychophysical methods.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1888429609700196visual developmentvisual acuitycontrast sensitivitycritical periodvisually-evoked potential |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Susan J. Leat Naveen K. Yadav Elizabeth L. Irving |
spellingShingle |
Susan J. Leat Naveen K. Yadav Elizabeth L. Irving Development of Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity in Children Journal of Optometry visual development visual acuity contrast sensitivity critical period visually-evoked potential |
author_facet |
Susan J. Leat Naveen K. Yadav Elizabeth L. Irving |
author_sort |
Susan J. Leat |
title |
Development of Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity in Children |
title_short |
Development of Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity in Children |
title_full |
Development of Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity in Children |
title_fullStr |
Development of Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity in Children |
title_full_unstemmed |
Development of Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity in Children |
title_sort |
development of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity in children |
publisher |
Elsevier |
series |
Journal of Optometry |
issn |
1888-4296 |
publishDate |
2009-01-01 |
description |
Purpose: Most studies of visual development have concentrated on visual development of infants. Only a few studies have extended this to children and determined the point at which visual function becomes truly adult-like. Yet from a clinical and research perspective it is important to know this. This review paper is a discussion of the development of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity into childhood.
Methods: The literature on subjective (measured with preferential looking or psychophysical methods) and objective (visually-evoked potential) measures of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity was examined with particular emphasis on studies of children over the age of 5 years and those articles that compared different age groups and those that made a comparison with adults.
Results: Visual acuity was found to be fully mature between the ages of 5 and the mid teenage years, while contrast sensitivity was found to mature fully between the ages of 8 to 19 years. Thus, there is still no clear answer to the fundamental question of when these basic aspects of visual function mature, but it may be later than previously thought.
Conclusions: Further studies are needed to answer this basic question more precisely and objective measures, such as VEP, may be able to answer this question better than psychophysical methods. |
topic |
visual development visual acuity contrast sensitivity critical period visually-evoked potential |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1888429609700196 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT susanjleat developmentofvisualacuityandcontrastsensitivityinchildren AT naveenkyadav developmentofvisualacuityandcontrastsensitivityinchildren AT elizabethlirving developmentofvisualacuityandcontrastsensitivityinchildren |
_version_ |
1725911652396695552 |