Accommodative adaptation induced by sustained disparity-vergence.

Pre- and post-task measures of dark focus (DF) were used to assess the response of the accommodative system to within-task disparity-vergence in 10 late-onset myopes (LOM's) and 10 emmetropes. Disparity was induced by 3 and 6 delta base-out prisms imposed during a 3 D near-vision task undertaken for 3- and 10-min periods. Accommodation was measured after the task at 1-s intervals over a 90-s period using an objective infrared optometer to determine post-task regression of DF toward pretask values. After the 3-min task both groups show a reduction in DF adaptation with increasing disparity-vergence. After the 10-min task, disparity continues to have a significant effect on accommodative adaptation in LOM's but not in emmetropes, suggesting diminished prism adaptation in LOM's. The implications of these findings are discussed with regard to both current models of accommodation-vergence interaction and the etiology of late-onset myopia.