About
What is the Infant Vision Laboratory?
Originally set up in 1997 to research babies’ eyesight, the Infant Vision Laboratory researches many aspects of eye focusing, as people of all ages look at things at different distances.
O
ur particular interest is in ocular convergence (to point both eyes inwards to look at close objects) and accommodation (focusing within the eye to make the object clear).
We research:
- Typical focusing development across the lifespan
- The ocular accommodation convergence linkage
- Accommodation and convergence in strabismus (squint)
- Eye strain and eye (orthoptic) exercises
- Accommodation during reading
The understanding and treatment of eye conditions due to these factors are the core work of orthoptists.
Some things make problems with these systems more likely, although they can also come on out of the blue. Problems with binocular vision are more common in children born prematurely, having developmental problems, needing glasses (especially in childhood), having neurological problems, having abnormalities of the eye muscles, and general health issues such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis or high blood pressure. Some of these things tend to run in families. Eye strain in adults is more common if you do a lot of close work.
We are interested in how the binocular vision system develops, why it sometimes goes wrong, and how the eyes are controlled if something disrupts the images reaching the brain.
What have we found?
- Read an overview of our research or download Children’s Vision: New insights inform changes to clinical practice (PDF)
- Publications list for ophthalmologists, orthoptists and optometrists – the details with links to the original articles where available