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Reduction in binocular enhancement of the visual-evoked potential during development accompanies increasing
1Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Purpose:
To study the maturation of normal binocular vision.
Methods:
Binocular visual function has been studied and monocular and binocular pattern reversal visual-evoked potentials (VEP) recorded in 20 normal subjects aged 5 to 43 years.
Results:
Stereoacuity improved significantly between the age of 5 and adulthood. Mean stereoacuity for eight children measured by the Titmus test was 61 seconds of arc and 56 seconds of arc by the TNO test. For the 12 adults in the study, corresponding mean stereoacuities were 45 and 31 seconds of arc. Over the same timespan, binocular enhancement of the VEP P100 amplitude decreased. For the children aged 5 to 10 years, the mean binocular VEP enhancement to 20' checks was 1.60, whereas for young adults it was 1.19. There was no comparable change in the binocular enhancement to 40' checks, with mean binocular enhancement of 1.31 in the children and 1.26 in the young adults. Over the same age range, VEP latency also decreased.
Conclusion:
During visual maturation, improvement in stereoacuity is accompanied by a fall in binocular enhancement of the P100 amplitude of the VEP to small checks and a reduction in the P100 latency.