Effects of higher-order aberrations on contrast acuity as a function of light level

Abstract

The effects of higher-order ocular aberrations on functional visual performance were assessed for seven young healthy subjects, as a function of light level. Contrast acuity thresholds were measured for a functional vision test with and without correction of higher-order aberrations and at a number of different pupil sizes in three of the subjects investigated. A visual simulator incorporating an adaptive optics (AO) system was used for this purpose. The results show that when light level is decreased, the drop in neural contrast sensitivity limits the impact that increased optical degradations have on vision. The expected AO benefit for functional vision is given for scotopic, mesopic and photopic regimes.

Acknowledgements

This research is funded by Science Foundation Ireland under grant number SFI/01/PI.2/B039C and by a European Union EU Research Training Network, contract number HPRN-CT-2002-00301 ‘SHARP-EYE’.

Notes

Note

1. These values are given by the Illumination Engineering Society of North America.