Binocular visual performance and summation after correcting higher order aberrations

Although the ocular higher order aberrations degrade the retinal image substantially, most studies have investigated their effect on vision only under monocular conditions. Here, we have investigated the impact of binocular higher order aberration correction on visual performance and binocular summation by constructing a binocular adaptive optics (AO) vision simulator. Binocular monochromatic aberration correction using AO improved visual acuity and contrast sensitivity significantly. The improvement however, differed from that achieved under monocular viewing. At high spatial frequency (24 c/deg), the monocular benefit in contrast sensitivity was significantly larger than the benefit achieved binocularly. In addition, binocular summation for higher spatial frequencies was the largest in the presence of subject's native higher order aberrations and was reduced when these aberrations were corrected. This study thus demonstrates the vast potential of binocular AO vision testing in understanding the impact of ocular optics on habitual binocular vision.