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Published in final edited form as:
Optom Vis Sci. 2011 May ; 88(5): 593–600. doi:10.1097/OPX.0b013e3182112d99.
Accommodation to Wavefront Vergence and Chromatic
Aberration
Yinan Wang, MD, MS, Philip B. Kruger, OD, PhD, FAAO, James S. Li, OD, Peter L. Lin, OD,
and Lawrence R. Stark, BAppSc(Optom), PhD, FAAO
Vision Sciences, State University of New York, State College of Optometry, New York, New York
(YW, PBK, JSL, PLL), and Southern California College of Optometry, Fullerton, California (LRS)
Abstract
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Purpose—Longitudinal chromatic aberration (LCA) provides a cue to accommodation with
small pupils. However, large pupils increase monochromatic aberrations, which may obscure
chromatic blur. In the present study, we examined the effect of pupil size and LCA on
accommodation.
Methods—Accommodation was recorded by infrared optometer while observers (nine normal
trichromats) viewed a sinusoidally moving Maltese cross target in a Badal stimulus system. There
were two illumination conditions: white (3000 K; 20 cd/m2) and monochromatic (550 nm with 10
nm bandwidth; 20 cd/m2) and two artificial pupil conditions (3 mm and 5.7 mm). Separately,
static measurements of wavefront aberration were made with the eye accommodating to targets
between 0 and 4 D (COAS, Wavefront Sciences).
Results—Large individual differences in accommodation to wavefront vergence and to LCA are
a hallmark of accommodation. LCA continues to provide a signal at large pupil sizes despite
higher levels of monochromatic aberrations.
Conclusions—Monochromatic aberrations may defend against chromatic blur at high spatial
frequencies, but accommodation responds best to optical vergence and to LCA at 3 c/deg where
blur from higher order aberrations is less.
Keywords
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accommodation; blur; focus; longitudinal chromatic aberration; wavefront aberration
The conventional view of reflex (blur-driven) accommodation control is that luminance
contrast of the retinal image provides an even-error stimulus without directional
information. The eye accommodates to reduce myopic or hyperopic defocus blur and
maximize luminance contrast of the retinal image, and in this systems control model,
negative feedback from changes in luminance contrast is essential. Contrary to the
conventional view, Fincham1 proposed odd-error signed stimuli for accommodation
including an achromatic signal from wavefront vergence extracted by the Stiles–Crawford
effect and a chromatic signal from the effect of longitudinal chromatic aberration (LCA).
At spatial frequencies above approximately 0.5 cycles per degree (c/deg), longitudinal
chromatic aberration (LCA) of the eye from the dispersion of white light by the ocular
media alters ocular focus as a function of wavelength. Short wavelength light focuses
Corresponding author: Yinan Wang, Department of Vision Science, SUNY College of Optometry, 33 W 42nd St, New York, NY
10036, ywang995@gmail.com.
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anterior to long wavelength light, producing approximately 2 D chromatic difference of
focus between 400 and 700 nm2–5 and significantly different contrasts for spectral
waveband components of the retinal image.6, 7 Numerous studies have demonstrated that
LCA provides an important directional stimulus to reflex accommodation.7–23
Monochromatic higher-order (HO) aberrations of eyes affect retinal image quality, provide a
potential odd-error signal to accommodation, and interact with chromatic aberrations.24–32
In theory, even-order aberrations like second order astigmatism and fourth order spherical
aberration can provide the sign of defocus, but odd-order aberrations like third order coma
and trefoil cannot.24,28 This theory has empirical support.28 However, the potential role of
the HO aberrations in accommodation control is not consistent across all studies.26, 27, 29,
30, 32 In particular, some individuals appear to use monochromatic aberrations, while others
do not.26, 29, 30
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Besides their effects on accommodation and resolution of fine detail, HO aberrations interact
with chromatic aberration of the eye. McLellan et al.31 used the modulation transfer
function (MTF) of the eye to evaluate retinal image quality for a model eye with LCA but no
other aberrations, and also for real eyes with both LCA and monochromatic wavefront
aberrations. For the model eye with LCA alone, MTF was degraded distinctly for 450 nm
light, which is defocused substantially as a result of LCA, compared with the MTF for 550
nm light which is in focus on the retina. On the other hand, for a real eye with both LCA and
monochromatic aberrations, the MTF is very similar for 450 nm and 550 nm light. This
result suggests that monochromatic aberrations decrease the difference in MTF across
wavelengths that results from LCA alone. The MTF for long-wavelength sensitive cones (Lcones), middle-wavelength sensitive cones (M-cones), and short-wavelength sensitive cones
(S-cones) computed separately in real eyes are more similar to each other than in the model
eye with LCA alone. While monochromatic wavefront aberrations degrade the retinal image
at a single wavelength, McLellan et al.31 concluded that monochromatic aberrations also
attenuate the effects of LCA and thus help the eye defend against chromatic blur.
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Previous experiments in our laboratory show that LCA increases dynamic accommodation
gain significantly for normal subjects, suggesting that LCA provides an effective directional
signal that specifies wavefront vergence.7, 9, 11–14, 16–19, 33 The previous experiments all
simulated 3 mm artificial pupils to minimize HO wavefront aberrations of the eye, since at
the pupil size of 3 mm, the monochromatic aberrations of the eye have minimal effects on
the retinal image quality.34, 35 Thus the relatively small pupil size may have influenced the
previous results. Following McLellan et al.31 the increase in monochromatic aberrations at
large pupil sizes may obscure the effects of LCA, and thus LCA would not provide such a
substantial cue at large pupil sizes.
To examine the effect of pupil size and HO aberrations on accommodation, we compared
dynamic gain with and without the normal LCA of the eye in observers while they viewed
through 3 mm and 5.7 mm diameter artificial pupils.
METHODS
Subjects
Fifteen volunteers (subjects) were involved in this study, which was approved by the
Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the College. All subjects gave informed consent. Three
were investigators and the others were naive to the purpose of the study. All subjects were
visually normal and had no history of strabismus, amblyopia, binocular vision problems, or
significant ocular injury, surgery, or disease. Refractive errors were corrected by the
subjects’ own contact lenses or by trial lenses. Distance refractive states and near point of
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accommodation were measured for all subjects. Two subjects were excluded for poor
accommodation to a stationary target during the optometer calibration procedure (described
below). One subject was excluded for accommodative spasm (severe over-accommodation)
and three for excessive blinking during trials. Thus, nine normal trichromatic subjects
ranging from 21 to 31 years of age participated in this experiment. Three out of nine are
male.
Apparatus
Dynamic accommodation was monitored continuously (100 Hz) with a high-speed infrared
optometer36 and the pupil was monitored by video-camera (30 frames/s) while the subject
viewed a high contrast Maltese cross target presented in non-Maxwellian view through a
Badal stimulus system. The Badal optical system keeps the visual angle subtended by the
target constant despite changes in target distance.11 The Badal stimulus system used in this
study was similar to the non-Maxwellian arm of the stimulus system described by Kruger et
al.37 Two artificial pupils (3 mm and 5.7 mm in diameter) were used in the experiment.
Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of the apparatus used in the experiment.
Procedures
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Preliminary Examinations—During a preliminary session, case histories and Snellen
acuities were measured for each subject, and color vision was tested by Nagel anomaloscope
(mean of five measurements) and Farnsworth D-15 panel test. Monochromatic wavefront
aberration and distance refractive error were measured by clinical aberrometer (COAS,
Wavefront Sciences). The subject was directed to focus on a stationary white “ships wheel”
target in the aberrometer positioned at five stimulus levels between 0 D and 4 D while
wavefront aberration was measured. The subject’s refractive state was measured with the
eye accommodating for a far distance. These measurements were taken with subjects’
natural (large) pupils in a dark room. Near point of accommodation was measured
monocularly by standard push-up technique.
Subjects’ Calibration—During the accommodation trials, the subject was positioned in
front of the apparatus on a chin and forehead rest, which kept the subject still. The left eye
of each subject was tested and the right eye was patched. The subject’s refractive error was
corrected by the subject’s own contact lenses or by trial lenses, and the room was kept dark
so that the subjects’ pupil sizes were always larger than the artificial pupil in use in each
trial. The subject’s pupil was monitored by video-camera (30 frames/s) and the image of the
pupil was viewed on a video display so that the investigators could adjust the position of the
subject’s eye continuously during the experiment.
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The IR optometer was calibrated for each subject’s eye using a method of bichromatic
stigmatoscopy17 that includes both objective and subjective measurements of
accommodation at five stimulus levels: 0 D, 1 D, 2 D, 3 D, and 4 D.
Experimental Trials—During experimental trials, the Maltese cross target moved
sinusoidally toward and away from the subject’s eye between 1 D and 3 D at 0.2 Hz with a
mean level of 2 D. The subject was instructed to “concentrate on the center of the target and
to keep the target clear using the same amount of effort as reading a book”. There were two
illumination conditions: white light (3000 K; 20 cd/m2) to include normal chromatic
aberration of the eye, and monochromatic green light (550 nm with 10 nm bandwidth; 20 cd/
m2) to eliminate chromatic aberration. There were two artificial pupil diameters: 3 mm and
5.7 mm. Thus there were four conditions in total (two illumination conditions and two pupil
conditions). For each subject, six trials were conducted for each condition, randomized in
blocks, giving 24 trials in total. To limit subject fatigue, the 24 trials were run separately in
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two experimental sessions. Each trial lasted 40.96 s with a break of approximately 1 min
between trials.
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Analysis
Blinks were removed manually from each accommodation trial before analysis. Trials with
more than 14.65% blinks were discarded.37 Data were scaled according to the subject’s
calibration and analyzed using a fast Fourier transform to extract dynamic gain and temporal
phase-lag at the stimulus frequency (0.2 Hz). Data from the six trials for each condition were
vector averaged to determine mean gain and temporal phase-lag of accommodation for each
condition. In addition, mean accommodation response was calculated for each trial, and
means for the six trials were averaged for each condition.
To determine whether chromatic aberration and monochromatic HO wavefront aberration
improve or impair the accommodative response, comparisons were made between the
accommodation responses in the two illumination conditions and also between the
accommodation responses to the two pupil size conditions for the subjects. A nonparametric alternative to multivariate analysis of variance was used.38, 39 The following
accommodative parameters were tested: (1) the vector gain of dynamic accommodation, a
multivariate point (real, imaginary) that can be determined by plotting each subject’s gain
and phase in rectangular coordinates; (2) gain ratios.
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For each subject root-mean-square (RMS) HO aberrations were calculated by the
aberrometer for 3 mm and 5.7 mm pupil diameters (COAS, Wavefront Sciences). For these
measurements the aberrometer target was moved to a near distance so that the subject was
accommodating approximately the same amount as the mean accommodation level
measured during the dynamic accommodation trials (white light, large pupil condition).
RMS HO aberrations for two pupil diameters were compared for each subject.
RESULTS
Inter-Individual Variation in Accommodation
Each subject’s mean dynamic gains and phase-lags for the four conditions (6 trials per
condition) are summarized in Table 1 and Figure 2. All the means are vector means. Mean
gain varied widely among the observers for the four conditions, indicating large individual
differences in the sensitivity to vergence and LCA among subjects. Among the nine
subjects, some had very low dynamic gains such as Subject 1 (S1) whose mean gains were
0.14, 0.26, 0.03, and 0.01 for the four conditions. Other subjects like S3 had very high gains,
which were all above 1 for the four conditions.
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Effect of Chromatic Aberration and Pupil Size on Accommodation
Prior to formal statistical analysis we made informal inspections of plots of the data. On
inspection of Figure 2, it appears that eight of the nine subjects showed reduced dynamic
gains in monochromatic light at both small and large pupil sizes. Only one (S3) had slightly
decreased accommodative responses in white light compared with monochromatic light with
a small pupil, and gains were approximately the same in white and monochromatic light
with the large pupil. This suggests that the subjects (except S3) were sensitive to the effect
of LCA. Eight of the nine subjects showed increased dynamic gains with large pupils in
monochromatic light, while in white light, five subjects showed increased dynamic gains
with large pupils.
Figure 3 shows data from a typical subject under each of the four experimental conditions.
The top trace is the stimulus and the four traces below are the responses in each condition.
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The amplitude of response increased in white light for both pupil sizes, and the amplitude of
response increased with pupil size in both white and monochromatic light.
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To investigate the effect of chromatic aberration and pupil size on accommodation, gain
ratios were calculated for each subject for two pupil sizes (3 mm pupil, 5.7 mm pupil) and
for two illumination conditions (monochromatic, white), and box plots of the gain ratios
were used to summarize the distribution of the gain ratios among the subjects. Figure 4
shows the box plots of the subjects’ gain ratios for different conditions. The top figure
shows the ratio of gain in monochromatic light to gain in white light for two pupil sizes. For
both pupil sizes, most subjects’ gain ratios are less than 1, which means that the amplitude
of their accommodation responses is smaller in monochromatic light than in white light. The
bottom figure plots the ratio of the gain with small pupil to the gain with large pupil in white
and monochromatic light. In monochromatic light, most subjects’ gain ratios are less than 1,
which means their accommodation responses are reduced with small pupils. However, in
white light the gain ratios do not follow this pattern.
Statistical analysis (geometric test) results were in agreement with the box plots. The vector
gains improved significantly from monochromatic light to white light at both 5.7 mm (p =
0.004) and 3 mm (p = 0.02) pupil sizes. The vector gains also increased significantly with
larger pupils in monochromatic light (p = 0.005), but the pupil size had no significant effect
on dynamic accommodation in white light (p = 0.12).
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The monochromatic to white gain ratio was not significantly different between the two pupil
sizes (p = 0.0746). Thus, LCA still provides a useful signal to accommodation at large pupil
sizes, which is not significantly attenuated by the presence of HO monochromatic
aberrations.
Effect of Pupil Size on RMS HO Aberrations
Figure 5 shows the RMS HO aberrations for 9 subjects with two pupil sizes. RMS HO
aberrations increased with pupil size for all 9 subjects (0.21 μm for 3 mm pupil and 0.47 μm
for 5.7 mm pupil), and for the group, HO aberrations doubled with the larger pupil.
Subjects’ pupils were always larger than the artificial pupil in use during each trial, except
for one subject (S6) who showed oscillations of pupil diameter between approximately 4.2
mm and 5.0 mm at the temporal frequency (0.2 Hz) of the stimulus and in synchrony with
the accommodation response.
DISCUSSION
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The present results show that LCA continues to provide a directional signal for
accommodation at large pupil sizes despite higher levels of monochromatic aberrations. The
results also show that large individual differences in accommodation to wavefront vergence
and to LCA are a hallmark of accommodation in normal trichromatic observers, which
agrees with previous findings.
In the present study we used sinusoidally moving targets rather than stationary targets to
reduce voluntary behaviors that can mask the cues to accommodation when the target is
stationary. Voluntary accommodation can mask the effects of spatial frequency, contrast,
chromatic aberration and defocus when the target is stationary.11 In addition, we instructed
the subjects to “concentrate on the center of the target and to keep the target clear using the
same amount of effort as when reading a book” rather than to “focus the target as hard as
you can” or “use as much effort as you can”. This type of instruction in conjunction with the
moving target is intended to enhance reflex blur-driven accommodation by minimizing
prediction and voluntary behaviors.11, 40, 41
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Individual Differences among Observers
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In the current experiment, we found that the observers showed large individual differences
in dynamic gain to both wavefront vergence and LCA (Figure 2). This confirms the results
of previous accommodation experiments that wide variation among individuals in sensitivity
to both vergence and LCA is typical.1, 7, 11, 14, 16–19, 33, 42 One possibility is that
subjects who respond poorly or who do not respond at all to optical vergence and/or
chromatic aberration have not developed the physiological mechanisms to detect effects of
chromatic aberration and/or optical vergence. Studies suggest that the signal from LCA is
analyzed by comparing L-cone and M-cone contrasts.7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17–19, 22, 43 Some
observers who cannot detect color signal from LCA may not develop the neurophysiology to
measure contrast separately by cone type, and/or the neurophysiology to then compare Land M-cone-contrasts to derive the directional signal to drive accommodation. Other
observers do develop strong neural mechanisms for detecting these color signals. Intersubject variation in detecting optical vergence signals might result from variation in the
Stiles-Crawford effect (pointing direction) of individual cones and small subgroups of cones
that sample from different parts of the pupil.44 Proposed mechanisms for optical vergence
detection have been summarized in our previous papers,32, 45 including modal patterns in
cones, and subgroups of cones that sample from slightly different areas of the pupil.
Development of these mechanisms may vary widely among subjects. In the current study, all
the subjects except S3 used LCA as a directional cue for reflex accommodation. This
confirms that most subjects are sensitive to LCA and individuals like S3 are unusual.
Pupil Size and HO Aberrations
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We found that LCA continued to provide a useful signal to accommodation at large pupil
sizes despite the increased monochromatic aberrations. Yet McLellan et al.31 concluded that
monochromatic aberrations attenuate the effects of LCA and help the eye defend against
chromatic blur. Monochromatic aberrations may defend against chromatic blur at high
spatial frequencies, but the effects of LCA are most effective for reflex accommodation at
intermediate spatial frequencies between 3 and 5 c/deg.41, 46, 47 Defocus and other
aberrations of the eye reduce retinal image contrast as a function of spatial frequency, and
the effect is most prominent at high spatial frequencies (> 30 c/deg) and minimum at very
low spatial frequencies (< 0.3 c/deg). But at intermediate spatial frequencies (0.5–8 c/deg),
defocus and LCA have moderate effects on image contrast, and dynamic accommodative
gain is maximum at around 3 c/deg. HO aberrations have minimal effect on contrast of the
retinal image at 3 c/deg, where defocus and LCA are the principal cause of retinal blur. The
target in the present experiment was a Maltese cross with broadband spatial frequency
content. Thus HO aberrations may reduce chromatic blur at high spatial frequencies,31 but
they do not attenuate the effects of LCA when the target includes intermediate spatial
frequencies even at large pupil sizes. When pupil diameter was reduced from 5.7 mm to 3
mm, accommodative gain decreased significantly in monochromatic light, but not in white
light. In monochromatic light the reduced gain could result from a larger depth of focus as
well as from a smaller directional signal from HO aberrations when the pupil is small.
Besides effects of blur and depth of focus, smaller artificial pupils reduce the change in
angle of incidence of light across edges blurred by defocus compared to larger pupils, and
thus might impair retinal mechanisms that monitor wavefront vergence. In white light, LCA
provided a strong directional signal at both pupil sizes and gain did not decrease
significantly when pupil size was reduced.
CONCLUSIONS
In summary, large individual differences in accommodation to wavefront vergence and to
LCA are a hallmark of accommodation in normal trichromatic observers. The present
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findings support the view that blur from aberrations especially defocus and chromatic
aberration specifies wavefront vergence at intermediate spatial frequencies and drives
accommodation.1, 41, 43, 46–49
Acknowledgments
The research was supported by grants from the National Eye Institute of NIH (2R01-EYO5901) to Philip B.
Kruger, and Minnie Flaura Turner Memorial Fund for Impaired Vision Research to Yinan Wang.
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Figure 1.
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Badal stimulus system: The illumination system is in dashed lines and the target system in
solid lines. S, tungsten-halogen light source; CL1, collimating lens; IF, interference filter;
ND, neutral density filter; D1 & D2, opal diffusers; IB, integrating bar; L1, L2, L3, L4,
achromatic lenses; M, front-surface mirror; T, Maltese cross target photographic
transparency; A, artificial pupils; P1 & P2, prisms with mirrored surfaces; T′, target image;
E, eye.
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Figure 2.
Mean gain for nine subjects under four stimulus conditions. Error bars represent 1 SEM for
six experimental trials per condition.
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Figure 3.
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Typical accommodation data from one subject for four stimulus conditions. The top trace is
the accommodative stimulus and the four traces below are the accommodative responses for
each of the four conditions. Each trace is for one 40-sec trial.
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Figure 4.
Box plots of gain ratios (monochromatic/white) for two pupil sizes and gain ratios (3 mm
pupil/5.7 mm pupil) for two illumination conditions. Gain ratios are given on the y-axis, and
different conditions on the x-axis. The boxes represent the inter-quartile range. The upper
and lower edges of the boxes indicate the 75th and 25th percentile. The horizontal line in the
box represents the median value. The ends of the vertical lines indicate the minimum and
maximum values. The box and the whiskers together indicate the area within which all data
are found.
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Figure 5.
RMS HO aberrations for 9 subjects for two different pupil analysis sizes. Gray bars are for
3mm pupil and hatched bars are for 5.7mm pupil.
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Table 1
White + 5.7mm
White + 3mm
Mono + 5.7mm
Mono + 3mm
Subject
Mean gain
mean phase lag (Degree)
Mean gain
mean phase lag (Degree)
Mean gain
mean phase lag (Degree)
Mean gain
mean phase lag (Degree)
1
0.14
−60
0.26
−56
0.03
−77
0.01
−4
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2
0.45
−37
0.36
−47
0.36
−60
0.12
−75
3
1.26
−24
1.01
−32
1.23
−33
1.10
−40
4
0.73
−42
0.58
−49
0.59
−49
0.50
−57
5
0.15
−56
0.17
−59
0.05
−50
0.01
12
6
0.26
−64
0.16
−70
0.11
−72
0.09
−84
7
0.52
−92
0.63
−128
0.42
−110
0.44
−141
8
0.41
−69
0.53
−63
0.34
−92
0.21
−87
9
0.33
−64
0.27
−66
0.17
−84
0.04
−62
Average
0.44
−49
0.38
−60
0.32
−59
0.23
−65
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Each subject’s mean dynamic gains and mean phase-lags (degree) for the four conditions (N = 6 per condition).
Bold letters are the vector averages of all subjects’ mean gains and mean phase-lags.
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