Psychophysical observations concerned with a foveal lesion (macular hole)

A not uncommon occurrence in elderly people is the development of a 'macular hole' but very few psychophysical observations have been made in such cases. I describe here some distortions of image experienced when I view objects with my right eye which has a macular hole. Objects are distorted by being shrunk towards the fovea. Thus, a disc retains its shape but becomes smaller whereas lines are broken or bent. By analogy with animal experiments it is suggested that the perceptual changes are due to physiological changes in the visual cortex.