Bilateral Experimental Myopia in Chicks

Abstract

Substantial amounts of myopia can be induced in chicks by depriving the eye of clear vision for a period of 2 weeks after hatching. Previous work has primarily involved unilateral visual deprivation. Experiments described here include bilateral visual deprivation involving an opaque goggle over one eye and a translucent goggle over the other. The results indicate that although myopia is induced bilaterally, the eye under the translucent goggle becomes more myopic than the contralateral eye or the unilateral deprivation condition. Lens focal characteristics are not affected by the level of myopia. The fact that deprivation of one eye can affect the refractive development of the contralateral eye has implications related to the question of central vs. peripheral neural control of refractive development.