The Importance of the Interaction Between Ocular Motor Function and Vision During Human Infancy

Abstract

Numerous studies have demonstrated the impact of imposed abnormal visual experience on the postnatal development of the visual system. These studies have provided fundamental insights into the mechanisms underlying neuroplasticity and its role in clinical care. However, the ocular motor responses of postnatal human infants largely define their visual experience in dynamic three-dimensional environments. Thus, the immature visual system needs to control its own visual experience. This review explores the interaction between the developing motor and sensory/perceptual visual systems, together with its importance in both typical development and the development of forms of strabismus and amblyopia.

An edge-simplicity bias in the visual input to young infants

“…Second, the observed bias in the input to infants is perhaps not fully captured by a low-pass filter but may be better characterized as a bias for limited edge competition in a scene, that is, for scenes containing few edges at few orientations. Last, the finding of a strong bias at input to the eye has relevance for precortical visual development that also occurs in the early months after birth, including accommodation and convergence, which likely benefit from looking at targets that consist of few edges ( 21 , 33 , 34 ).…”

Preterm infant contingent communication in the neonatal intensive care unit with mothers versus fathers.

“…When exposed to maternal voices, preterm infants increase quiet alert state and attending behaviors (Bozzette, 2008; Filippa et al, 2013; Keller et al, 2008; Saliba et al, 2020). Moreover, vision is still unfocused in the early weeks of life (Candy, 2019).…”

Comparing paediatric optometric vision care in Canada over a 14‐year period

“…VA, oculomotor skills, binocularity and accuracy of accommodation all develop rapidly from birth 21 . Developmentally, by 6 months of age, a typically developing child has reached several critical visual milestones, 7,22 making 6–9 months an appropriate age for their first eye and vision examination 8 as supported by the Canadian Association of Optometrists (CAO) and the American Optometric Association (AOA) 23–26 .…”

“…VA, oculomotor skills, binocularity and accuracy of accommodation all develop rapidly from birth. 21 Developmentally, by 6 months of age, a typically developing child has reached several critical visual milestones, 7,22 making 6-9 months an appropriate age for their first eye and vision examination 8 as supported by the Canadian Association of Optometrists (CAO) and the American Optometric Association (AOA). [23][24][25][26] Although much evidence has been documented over the past decade regarding the prevalence of eye and vision disorders in children 2,[27][28][29] and the effect of uncorrected hyperopia on early literacy, 9 the number of children examined before the age of 6 years appears to have remained unchanged.…”