Choroidal blood flow. III. Reflexive control in human eyes.
Choroidal blood flow helps maintain a stable temperature environment for the outer retinal layers, especially in the macular area. Recent studies in monkeys have demonstrated a centrally mediated reflexive mechanism that increases choroidal blood flow in response to light or light-generated heat. This increase in choroidal blood flow can be detected as an elevation in ocular surface temperature. With the use of ocular surface temperature as a semiquantitative index of alterations in choroidal blood flow, the existence of a similar reflex was demonstrated in normal human volunteers.
D001775:Blood Circulation; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D002829:Choroid / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010775:Photic Stimulation