title: Relations between accommodation and vergence in darkness.
abstract: Prior studies reported that the resting postures of accommodation and vergence are uncoupled in darkness, calling into question whether accommodation-vergence synkinesis persists when both systems are deprived of stimulation. We tracked the postures of accommodation and vergence of 20 normal subjects for 15 min in darkness, using a Vernier optometer and dichoptic nonius lines. Consistent with previous reports, the mean resting postures of accommodation and vergence correlated weakly (r = 0.19); spontaneous fluctuations of accommodation and vergence in darkness also exhibited little correlation (median r = 0.15). However, resting vergence postures could be predicted (r = 0.65) from the clinically measured distance phoria and the resting posture of accommodation, when subjects' AC/A ratios were taken into account. We conclude that the relaxation of accommodation and vergence to separate resting postures in darkness is compatible with the persistence of synkinesis; independent noise in the two systems may reduce apparent coupling under open-loop conditions.
authors.affiliation: New England College of Optometry, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Bedell
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Pedersen
mesh_terms: D000065:Accommodation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D003623:Dark Adaptation / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans