Abstract
Presentation Description :
The ON and OFF pathways are a fundamental organizational property of the retina and activity within these two distinct pathways can influence ocular growth and refractive development in qualitatively different ways. For example pharmacological blockade of the retinal ON pathway has been shown to promote hyperopia and to reduce lens-induced myopia. On the other hand, elimination of OFF responses reduces the hyperopia normally produced by imposed myopic defocus. Moreover the ocular effects of manipulations of ambient lighting and image contrast polarity that are designed to differentially stimulate the ON and OFF pathways are in general agreement the results obtained using pharmacological blockade. The overall pattern of results suggest that it may be possible to prevent or control myopia progression using treatment regimens that selectively manipulate either the retinal ON and OFF pathways.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.