Faculty Collaboration Database

Assessing the spatial relationship between fixation and foveal specializations. Vision Res 2017 Mar;132:53-61

Date

06/12/2016

Pubmed ID

27286921

Pubmed Central ID

PMC5164985

DOI

10.1016/j.visres.2016.05.001

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85028280262 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   43 Citations

Abstract

Increased cone photoreceptor density, an avascular zone (FAZ), and the displacement of inner retinal neurons to form a pit are distinct features of the human fovea. As the fovea provides the majority of our vision, appreciating how these anatomical specializations are related is important for understanding foveal development, normal visual function, and retinal disease. Here we evaluated the relationship between these specializations and their location relative to the preferred retinal locus of fixation (PRL). We measured foveal pit volume, FAZ area, peak cone density, and location of the PRL in 22 subjects with normal vision using optical coherence tomography and adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy. Foveal pit volume was positively correlated with FAZ area; however, peak cone density was not correlated with pit volume. In addition, there was no systematic offset of the location of any of these specializations relative to PRL, and there was no correlation between the magnitude of the offset from PRL and the corresponding foveal specialization measurements (pit volume, FAZ area, peak cone density). The standard deviation of our PRL measurements was consistent with previous measurements of fixational stability. These data provide insight into the sequence of events during foveal development and may have implications for visual function and retinal disease.

Author List

Wilk MA, Dubis AM, Cooper RF, Summerfelt P, Dubra A, Carroll J

Authors

Joseph J. Carroll PhD Director, Professor in the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Robert F. Cooper Ph.D Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Engineering department at Marquette University

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Cell Count
Female
Fixation, Ocular
Fovea Centralis
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Ophthalmoscopy
Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells
Tomography, Optical Coherence
Visual Acuity
Young Adult