Fundamentals of Presbyopia: visual processing and binocularity in its transformation

Background The accommodation has considerable interactions with the pupil response, vergence response and binocularity. The transformation of visual reception processing and the changes of the binocular cooperation during the presbyopia development are still poorly studied. So, the regularities of visual system violation in the presbyopia formation need to be characterized. This study aims to reveal the transformation of visual reception processing and to determine the role of disturbances in binocular interactions in presbyopia formation. Methods This study included 60 people with emmetropic refraction, uncorrected distance visual acuity 1.0 or higher (decimal scale), normal color perception, without concomitant ophthalmopathology. The first group consisted of 30 people (from 18 to 27 years old) without presbyopia, the second cohort comprised 30 patients (from 45 to 55 years old) with presbyopia. The eyeball anatomy and optics were evaluated using ultrasound biomicroscopy, aberrometry, and pupillometry. The functional state of the visual system was investigated under monocular and binocular conditions. The registration of the disparate fusional reflex limits was performed by the original technic using a diploptic device which facilitated investigation of the binocular interaction under natural conditions without the accommodation response, but with the different vergence load. The disparate fusional reflex was analyzed using the proximal and distal fusion borders, and the convergence and divergence fusion borders. The calculation of the area of binocularity field was performed in cm2. Results The presbyopia formation is characterized by a change in an intraocular anatomy, optics, visual processing, and binocularity. The processes of binocular interaction inhibition make a significant contribution to the misalignment of the visual perception. The modification of the proximal, distal and convergence fusion borders was determined. It was revealed that 87% of the presbyopic patients had binocularity shortage, whereas the reduction of binocularity field area in extreme grade was seen in 6% of cases. Conclusions The presbyopia formation is accompanied by a significant reorganization of the visual system activity and by the creation of the new visual processing interactions. These data may be useful in presbyopia surgery.