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Published on: May 15, 2019

VISUAL ACCOMMODATION IN HUMAN INFANTS

H HAYNES, B L WHITE, R HELD

    Science (New York, N.Y.)
    |April 23, 1965
    PubMed

    Insights

    Newborn infants can only focus on targets at 19 cm. Their visual accommodation range expands rapidly in the first four months after birth, reaching adult-like levels.

    Area of Science:

    • Ophthalmology
    • Developmental Biology
    • Pediatrics

    Background:

    • Infant vision development is crucial for cognitive and motor skill acquisition.
    • Understanding early visual accommodation provides insights into neurodevelopmental trajectories.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate the accommodative ability of newborn infants.
    • To track the development of visual focusing in early infancy.

    Main Methods:

    • Dynamic retinoscopy was employed to measure visual accommodation.
    • Infants' ability to focus on targets at varying distances was assessed.

    Main Results:

    • Newborns demonstrated a limited but specific range of focus, with a median of 19 cm.
    • Visual accommodation flexibility significantly increased during the first four postnatal months.
    • Infant accommodative function approached adult levels by the fourth month of life.

    Conclusions:

    • The developing infant visual system exhibits a rapid progression in accommodative function shortly after birth.
    • Early visual development, specifically accommodation, follows a predictable and accelerated pattern in the first few months of life.

    Keywords:
    ACCOMMODATION, OCULARINFANTINFANT, NEWBORNPHYSIOLOGY

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