Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity Testing for Sports Vision

Abstract: The building blocks of effective sports vision are visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. Proper measurement of these spatial vision attributes is necessary for repeatability in the clinic or in the laboratory. The most repeatable method of testing visual acuity is with logMAR charts-either the Bailey-Lovie chart or the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study chart. The Pelli-Robson and the Mars are the most repeatable contrast sensitivity tests. Athletes may or may not demonstrate superior visual acuity and contrast sensitivity compared with age-matched nonathlete populations, and the optical quality of their eyes may be similar. Dynamic visual acuity in athletes and their performance are typically superior to those of nonathletes. How these differences relate to on-field performance is not known. Other changes to the visual system because of refractive surgery or contact lens wear may increase higher order aberrations and reduce low-contrast visual acuity. The ability to improve already-normal visual acuity is unclear although contrast sensitivity can improve with fast-paced video games. Tinted contact lenses help reduce discomfort glare and speed up adaptation but do not have an appreciable effect on visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. Conclusion: The use of valid and repeatable visual acuity and contrast sensitivity tests is essential for measuring the differences in visual performance among athletes and nonathletes. The development of a standardized dynamic visual acuity test is needed as are well-controlled scientific studies to evaluate the benefits of sports vision training

[1]  P. Buisseret,et al.  The sensitive period for strabismic amblyopia in humans. , 1993, Ophthalmology.

[2]  J. Robson,et al.  Application of fourier analysis to the visibility of gratings , 1968, The Journal of physiology.

[3]  F. Ferris,et al.  New visual acuity charts for clinical research. , 1982, American journal of ophthalmology.

[4]  M. Rouse,et al.  A comparison study of dynamic visual acuity between athletes and nonathletes. , 1988, Journal of the American Optometric Association.

[5]  Fraser C. Horn,et al.  Visual Performance with Sport-Tinted Contact Lenses in Natural Sunlight , 2009, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[6]  M. Bullimore,et al.  Assessing the reliability, discriminative ability, and validity of disability glare tests. , 1993, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[7]  B. Abernethy,et al.  An Assessment of the Efficacy of Sports Vision Training Programs , 1997, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[8]  David R. Williams,et al.  Seeing through the photoreceptor mosaic , 1986, Trends in Neurosciences.

[9]  W. Ridder,et al.  The Effect of Artificial Tears on Visual Performance in Normal Subjects Wearing Contact Lenses , 2003, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[10]  B. Barrett.  A critical evaluation of the evidence supporting the practice of behavioural vision therapy , 2009, Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians.

[11]  Jason D Marsack,et al.  Three-dimensional relationship between high-order root-mean-square wavefront error, pupil diameter, and aging. , 2007, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[12]  R. Sekuler,et al.  Contrast sensitivity throughout adulthood , 1982, Vision Research.

[13]  B. Gilmartin,et al.  The amelioration of myopia using biofeedback of accommodation: a review , 1991, Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians.

[14]  COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY ASSESSMENT VISUAL TRAINING FOR REFRACTIVE ERRORS , 2013 .

[15]  D. Leaming,et al.  US trends in refractive surgery: 2002 ISRS survey. , 2003, Journal of refractive surgery.

[16]  I L Bailey,et al.  Clinical grading and the effects of scaling. , 1991, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[17]  David L Mann,et al.  Is optimal vision required for the successful execution of an interceptive task? , 2007, Human movement science.

[18]  M. Bullimore,et al.  Improving the Reliability of the Pelli-Robson Contrast Sensitivity Test , 1991, Noninvasive Assessment of the Visual System.

[19]  T. Simpson,et al.  Wavefront-guided LASIK for myopia: effect on visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and higher order aberrations. , 2009, Journal of refractive surgery.

[20]  Shengfu Lu,et al.  New Definitions of Kinetic Visual Acuity and Kinetic Visual Field and Their Aging Effects , 2009 .

[21]  C. S. Johnson,et al.  Eye on the ball: an interview with Dr. C. Stephen Johnson and Mark McGwire. Interview by J. David Kopp. , 1999, Journal of the American Optometric Association.

[22]  E. Ludvigh,et al.  The effect of relative motion on visual acuity. , 1962, Survey of ophthalmology.

[23]  Stephen A Burns,et al.  Individual variations in human cone photoreceptor packing density: variations with refractive error. , 2008, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[24]  Carolyn Wu.  A randomized trial of atropine vs. patching for treatment of moderate amblyopia in children. , 2002, Archives of ophthalmology.

[25]  A Bradley,et al.  Optical and visual impact of tear break-up in human eyes. , 2000, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[26]  Arthur Bradley,et al.  Predicting optical effects of tear film break up on retinal image quality using the Shack-Hartmann aberrometer and computational optical modeling. , 2002, Advances in experimental medicine and biology.

[27]  W. Ridder,et al.  Contact Lens Drying and Visual Performance: The Vision Cycle with Contact Lenses , 2002, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[28]  R. Randle.  Responses of myopes to volitional control training of accommodation , 1988, Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians.

[29]  Austin Roorda,et al.  Applications of Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy , 2010, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[30]  T. Banton,et al.  Effect of Yellow‐Tinted Lenses on Contrast Sensitivity , 1984, American journal of optometry and physiological optics.

[31]  Bradley E. Dougherty,et al.  An Evaluation of the Mars Letter Contrast Sensitivity Test , 2005, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[32]  A. Arditi.  Improving the design of the letter contrast sensitivity test. , 2005, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[33]  A. I. Bailey,et al.  Interface properties of simplified tear-like fluids in relation to lipid and aqueous layers composition. , 2002 .

[34]  Eric Porisch.  Football players' contrast sensitivity comparison when wearing amber sport-tinted or clear contact lenses. , 2007, Optometry.

[35]  J. Trachtman,et al.  Biofeedback of accommodation to reduce functional myopia: a case report. , 1978, American journal of optometry and physiological optics.

[36]  Anna L. Ells,et al.  A randomized trial of atropine vs patching for treatment of moderate amblyopia in children , 2002 .

[37]  R. Balliet,et al.  The training of visual acuity in myopia. , 1982, Journal of the American Optometric Association.

[38]  U. Polat,et al.  Enhancing the contrast sensitivity function through action video game training , 2009, Nature Neuroscience.

[39]  G M Long,et al.  Training Effects on the Resolution of Moving Targets—Dynamic Visual Acuity , 1989, Human factors.

[40]  I L Bailey,et al.  New Design Principles for Visual Acuity Letter Charts* , 1976, American journal of optometry and physiological optics.

[41]  L. Thibos,et al.  Optical aberrations in professional baseball players , 2010, Journal of cataract and refractive surgery.

[42]  A. Hendrickson,et al.  Human photoreceptor topography , 1990, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[43]  R. Applegate,et al.  Set Shot Shooting Performance and Visual Acuity in Basketball , 1992, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[44]  D. Laby,et al.  The effect of laser refractive surgery on the on-field performance of professional baseball players. , 2005, Optometry.

[45]  David A. Berntsen,et al.  The Effect of Overnight Contact Lens Corneal Reshaping on Higher-Order Aberrations and Best-Corrected Visual Acuity , 2005, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[46]  Pablo Artal,et al.  Optical quality of the eye in subjects with normal and excellent visual acuity. , 2008, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[47]  M. D. Olson,et al.  The Effect of LASIK on Best-Corrected High-and Low-Contrast Visual Acuity , 2004, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[48]  G M Long,et al.  Dynamic Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity for Static and Flickered Gratings in a College Sample , 1992, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[49]  Denis G. Pelli,et al.  THE DESIGN OF A NEW LETTER CHART FOR MEASURING CONTRAST SENSITIVITY , 1988 .

[50]  A. Rosenbaum,et al.  The visual function of professional baseball players. , 1996, American journal of ophthalmology.

[51]  S. Barbero,et al.  Optical response to LASIK surgery for myopia from total and corneal aberration measurements. , 2001, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[52]  L. Hoffman,et al.  The relationship of contrast sensitivity functions to sports vision. , 1984, Journal of the American Optometric Association.

[53]  B. Abernethy,et al.  The resilience of natural interceptive actions to refractive blur. , 2010, Human movement science.

[54]  Michael Belkin,et al.  Improving vision in adult amblyopia by perceptual learning. , 2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[55]  D Whitaker,et al.  Visual acuity changes throughout adulthood in normal, healthy eyes: seeing beyond 6/6. , 1995, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.