The prevalence of myopia is increasing rapidly - half of the world’s population is expected to be myopic in the year 2050, 10 % will be affected by high myopia. This is of concern due to the increased risk of severe, partly sight-threatening ocular diseases that are associated with myopia. Global public health systems and economies are in need of effective treatment methods for preventing myopia development or the further progression. In addition to genetics, research provided accumulating evidence for a significant impact of lifestyle and near vision activities on the refractive development. However, the reasons for this causative relationship are not yet fully understood. In this project, we combine imaging techniques and visual electrophysiology to assess the effects of the visual experience during nearwork on the accommodation apparatus and retinal processing in normal-sighted compared to myopic eyes. The study serves the need to better understand how the retinal image properties during nearwork might affect refractive error development. The comparative study could provide insight into the retinal pathway processing of myopic eyes and contribute to improving currently applied methods for myopia management.

Funding: Meta Technologies LLC Myopia Grant by the American Academy of Optometry Foundation (AAOF) and Reality Labs Research (RLR), a division of Facebook Technologies, LCC.