DYNAMICS OF ACCOMMODATIVE VERGENCE MOVEMENTS CONTROLLED BY THE DOMINANT AND NONDOMINANT EYE

Accommodative vergence responses to accommodative stimuli presented at three different amplitudes in a stepwise and a sinusoidal mode to either the dominant or the non-dominant eye were studied. The motor control loop was opened by one eye viewing the target and the other eye covered. Each eye was stimulated monocularly and eye movements were recorded with an infra-red reflection system. Latency and time constant of the accommodative vergence response to step stimulation or the phase of the vergence response to sine wave stimulation, did not vary systematically with stimulus amplitude or eye stimulated. However, the gain of the accommodative vergence movements was highest in the non-dominant eye at a particular stimulus amplitude. This suggested that accommodative vergence angles can vary depending on which eye is leading and driving the accommodative vergence system in a specific fixation situation.