The Control of Eye Alignment during Infancy and Early Childhood

Abstract: 

Refractive error and interocular distance mature during the first years after birth when the development of a fully binocular visual system is dependent on both focused and aligned retinal images. This talk will ask how infants are able to maintain binocular alignment while their accommodative and vergence demands are changing, and why some individuals might develop strabismus.  A number of studies of the coordination of accommodation and vergence motor responses by young infants will also be discussed. Lastly, this motor performance will be interpreted in the context of the developing visual system and its relevance to clinical examination and management of these patients.