Ocular Sensory Dominance and Viewing Distance Karen Squier Nova Southeastern University
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Nova Southeastern University NSUWorks College of Optometry Student Theses, Dissertations College of Optometry and Capstones 1-1-2017 Ocular sensory dominance and viewing distance Karen Squier Nova Southeastern University This document is a product of extensive research conducted at the Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry. For more information on research and degree programs at the NSU College of Optometry, please click here. Follow this and additional works at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_opt_stuetd Part of the Optometry Commons All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of oN va Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher. NSUWorks Citation Karen Squier. 2017. Ocular sensory dominance and viewing distance. Master's thesis. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, College of Optometry. (12) https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_opt_stuetd/12. This Thesis is brought to you by the College of Optometry at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in College of Optometry Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ocular sensory dominance and viewing distance Karen Squier, OD, F.A.A.O. Submitted to the Clinical Vision Research Program, College of Optometry of Nova Southeastern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Clinical Vision Research Written under the direction of Bin Zhang, M.D., Ph. D., F.A.A.O. Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry And Approved by Signature Bin Zhang, M.D., Ph. D., F.A.A.O. Signature David Albert Woods, OD, MS, FAAO Signature Hua Bi, O.D., Ph.D., F.A.A.O. Ocular sensory dominance and viewing distance By Karen Squier, OD Approved as to style and content by Bin Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., Chair 2 Acknowledgement I would like to thank and acknowledge the support and encouragement to persevere in the pursuit of my degree by Dr. Bin Zhang. I would also like to acknowledge and thank Nova Southeastern University for recognizing the importance of research in the field of optometry and giving a home to those optometrists who wish to further the field of knowledge within the vision science community. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Page 6 List of Figures Page 7 Chapter 1: Background Page 8 1.1 Ocular Dominance in the Literature Page 8 1.2 Ocular Dominance: The Challenges Page 9 1.3 Types of Ocular Dominance Page 10 1.4 Motor Dominance Page 11 1.5 Sighting Dominance Page 11 1.6. Sensory Dominance Page 12 1.7 Anatomy Page 13 1.8 Visual Development Page 15 Chapter 2: Methods Page 17 2.1 Subjects Page 17 2.2 Measurements Page 17 2.3 Statistical analysis Page 18 Chapter 3. Results Page 19 3.1 Statistics Page 20 3.2 Viewing Distance and Ocular Dominance, Qualitative Page 20 3.3 Viewing Distance and Ocular Dominance, Quantitative Page 21 Chapter 4. Discussion Page 23 Chapter 5. Conclusion Page 25 Appendix A Page 26 References Page 35 4 Abstract Purpose: It is not clear as to whether sensory dominance is affected by test distance. Jiang et al previously reported that that the sensory dominant eyes may be affected by refractive error; however this study was done at a near distance only (60 cm). In this study, we investigated the effect of two different test distances (near, 60 cm vs distance, 6 meters) on the laterality of ocular dominance. Methods: Ocular sensory dominance was quantified in 60 subjects with a technique that involves the dichoptic presentation of a Mondrian noise and a Gabor patch. The threshold to detect the Gabor patch was measured in the presence of decreasing contrast in the Mondrian stimulus. Each eye was tested 50 times and thresholds from two eyes were compared with t-test. If the difference between the two eyes was significant, a subject was classified as having clear ocular sensory dominance and the eye that had lower thresholds was defined as the dominant one. If difference between the two eyes was not significant, a subject was classified as having unclear ocular sensory dominance. Ocular sensory dominance was measured at two different viewing distances, one for near at 60cm away and the other one for far at 6m away. Results: In 31 subjects (51.7 %), dominant eyes remained the same for near and distance viewing. In 15 (25.0 %) subjects, who showed clear ocular sensory dominance at distance, ocular sensory dominance became unclear at near. In 11 (18.3 %) subjects, that had unclear ocular sensory dominance at distance, showed clear ocular sensory dominance at near. In 3 (5.0 %) subjects, the laterality of the dominant eye switched between far and near distance. Conclusions: The effect of viewing distance on ocular sensory dominance is a continuous spectrum. In majority of the population, ocular sensory dominance is not affected. In 43.3 % of the population, ocular sensory dominance varies between unclear and clear status. Only in very rare cases, laterality of dominant eyes switches between near and distance. 5 List of Figures Figure 1. Method to test sensory ocular dominance Figure 2. Summary map showing the distribution of ocular dominance at far and near. Figure 3. Ocular dominance and viewing distance. Figure 4. Patient demonstrating right eye dominance at distance, right dominance at near Figure 5. Patient demonstrating left eye dominance at distance, left eye dominance at near Figure 6. Patient demonstrating right eye dominance at distance, unclear dominance at near Figure 7. Patient demonstrating unclear dominance at distance, left eye dominance at near Figure 8. Patient demonstrating left eye dominance at distance, unclear dominance at near Figure 9. Patient demonstrating unclear dominance at distance, left eye dominance at near Figure 10. Patient demonstrating right eye dominance at distance, left eye dominance at near Figure 11. Patient demonstrating rating unclear dominance at distance, unclear dominance at near Figure 12. Patient demonstrating left eye dominance at distance, right eye dominance at near 6 7 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Ocular Dominance in the literature Ocular dominance can be referred to as a preference of one eye over the other during binocular tasks (1). While a person may have normal visual acuity and function in both eyes, some people have a tendency to still prefer the visual input from one eye over the other. Ocular dominance is a concept that people of all backgrounds may be familiar with, however the mechanism for ocular dominance is not well understood (2). Ocular dominance relates to the development of one eye having a stronger cortical representation than the other. This manifests in many ways: A strong preference with visually guided tasks, such as “sighting through a gunsight” or visual guidance when the binocular system is not intact (1). Ocular dominance is not a monocular phenomenon; that is, it does not manifest only when the opposing eye is covered but is present when both eyes are being used (1). Ocular dominance has been a concept that has been long studied, however due to variation in testing techniques and differences in laterality, progress in truly understanding ocular dominance has been slow (3). There are several issues that have contributed to this issue including testing methods. One theory that has been widely accepted is that laterality and handedness are intertwined when discussing ocular dominance (4). Physiologically and anatomically there is no scientific basis however it has become rote that these two features run hand in hand (2). This has also been extrapolated to include the “better seeing eye” is also dominant and related to sidedness, however this has not been proven to be an effective or consistent measurement of ocular 8 dominance. Patients who suffer vision loss from trauma or retinal disease may prefer their worse seeing eye despite poor acuity (1). 1.2 Ocular Dominance: The Challenges There are several misconceptions on how ocular dominance can be assessed from person to person (5). Ideally, a single test would give consistent and repeatable information however a consistent and repeatable screening test has not been shown to demonstrate laterality of ocular dominance (5). Clinical tests to assume ocular dominance have been helpful in some cases to determine refractive correction for monovision patients or prescribing ocular devices in low vision patients, however most of the tests performed are relating to sighted dominance (3,5). Other tests used for determining dominance are “rules of thumb” but there is no physiological explanation nor are they consistent and repeatable. Such tests include using which hand one uses for writing as an indication of laterality of ocular dominance or using which eye is “harder to wink” as an indication which eye is stronger (1,5). After image testing has also been used as a test for dominance, however patients with macular pathology may also demonstrate a longer photostress due to an irregularity in the cone function rather than any indication of ocular dominance. While anecdotally these tests may give rise to clinical prescribing practices, there is not much weight in the actual validity or any research to show these are reliable tests to use for measuring true ocular dominance (1,5). In cases of visual acuity testing, different testing methods may explain some of the variability in results. Some variance in previous studies may be related to variability in acuity charts when it is assumed that visual acuity may influence ocular dominance (6).