NEAR TRIAD

THE NEAR TRIAD

Triad
1. Convergence (driven by disparity alone)
drivers
2. Accommodation (driven by blur alone)
3. Pupil constriction
General
Production of clearest possible perception of object
motive
Stimulus
Driven by stimuli associated with object distance
Retinal blur and disparity are related to object distance
Sufficient to evoke all three motor responses

Neurological
feedback

AC/A and
CA/C ratio

Primary

Additional features which may modify near triad responses:

1. Perspective
2. Apparent size
3. Aberrations
4. Psychic clues
Driven by retinal blur and disparity
Feedback pathways are independent from one another
Regulatory control executed by two systems is different
Disparity vergence response tightly regulated while
accommodative systems tolerate substantial blur
Lens and ocular vergence response to blur = accommodative and
accommodative-vergence (AC/A)
Similar motor responses driven by disparity = convergence
accommodation & fusional vergence (CA/C)

Stimulus mechanisms
Accommodat Other stimuli to accommodation:
ion
1. Chromatic and spherical aberrations
2. Psychic proximal factors
3. Lens oscillations
Clues to accommodation:
1. Target size
2. Colour
3. Brightness
4. Lateral position
5. Parallax
Does

blur alone stimulate accommodation?

Other stimuli contribute to monocular sensory signal (list above)
Can be driven by blur alone
Elimination of clues (list above) > initial accommodation movement
incorrect
Blur alone doesnt provide direction information, but system will
arrive at correct amount of accommodation eventually
Possible that blur alone supplies primary drive in accommodative
response while combination of other sensory stimuli provide

direction information
Open loop condition for accommodation
Pupil size influences accommodation stimulation by modifying
depth of focus
Used to eliminate feedback influence of lens changes on state of
blur
By presenting stimuli target through pinhole, blur component can
be eliminated from near triad responses

Disparity

Binocularity
During symmetrical vergence movement, target will be off fovea
until movement is complete and all disparity stimuli produce
temporarily off-foveal image
Off-foveal images are less effective in generating accommodative
responses thus disparity influences blur signal
During binocular stimulation where disparity and blur are present,
accommodative component is less than predicted by same blur
stimulus presented monocularly
Stimulus:
Retinal disparity is the only stimulus required to drive the vergence
response
Open loop condition for vergence
Diplopia is not prerequisite for generation of reflex
Disparity stimuli and occlusion of one eye eliminates disparity drive
components from other near triad responses

Proximal
stimulation

How to alter disparity vergence stimulus independently:

1. Primsm
2. Change position of moveable target (Synoptophore)
3. Vary distance between two identical images viewed stereoscopically
(vectograms)
Definition:
Subconscious awareness of targets actual distance

Neural
processes

Stimulus:
Influences accommodative and vergence response (monocular and
binocular)
Responses still subject to some voluntary control
Lens and iris receive most of neural control via N3
EOM innervated by N3, N4, N6
EWN:
Subdivision of oculomotor nucleus
Final common pathway for most near triad responses begins in
Edinger-Westphal nucleus

3 tiered control structure:

1. Cortex > integrates & synthesizes total snkinetic response
2. Midbrain > modifies impulse on primitive level
3. Oculomotor nucleus complex > final common pathway

Response mechanisms
3 structures stimulated by neural signal from near triad
1. Lens
2. Iris
3. EOM
Responses in Open loops:
isolated
Accommodation and vergence are controlled by feedback systems
systems
through appropriate adjustment of stimulus
Possible to dissolve one or other system, permitting the remaining
system to be stranded in relative isolation
Isolation:
To isolate the accommodative system, disable the disparity
vergence system by eliminating binocular stimuli (patch one eye)
Elimination of blur can isolate disparity vergence systems (pinhole)
Pinhole disables accommodative feedback and monocular viewing
eliminates vergence feedback
Accommodat Lens response:
ive
Follows an increase in blur stimulation but with errors
responses
Error (lazy lag/lag) is partly due to accommodative dead space
(Book Ret)
At low levels of accommodative stimulus, we move toward dark
focus
Responsesto constant blur stimulation is not constant > fluctuates
over lare range
AC/A ratio
Vergence response to steady accommodative stimulus
DISPARITY
Definition

Diplopia
Binocular
disparity
Angular
disparity

For each point defined in one retina in one eye, there is one and
only one corresponding point in the other eye
Towards periphery, its area to area correspondence; not point to
point
When disparity exceeds 2 degrees
Binocular disparity for fovea is zero since each image falls on
corresponding points
Images falling on corresponding points have less binocular disparity
Angular disparity, n, for point p is: L R
n=
So angle disparity between a pair of objects is equal to the
binocular subtense of one object minus the binocular subtense of
the other

Angular disparity with symmetrical vergence:

ad
= 2
(radians)
d
a = IPD
d = FP to F

For large distances of symmetrical vergence, absolute disparity

between the images of an object is proportional to PD and distance
between objects (i.e. P+F)
Disparity produced by an object at a given distance from F is
inversely proportional to the square of the distances from eyes to
fixation
If d is the smallest discriminable difference in depth between F
and P, the is a measure of stereoacuity
Figure
Foveas fixating on F
Second point p d
beyond F
Visual angle L = angle
between fovea and
image of p
For left eye L is positive
For right eye R is
negative
= binocular subtense
of F
= binocular subtense
of p

BORISH NEAR TRIAD

Cybernetics

New terms

Science of communication and automated control mechanism

Use of systems diagrams to try and simplify a very complex
system (accommodative/vergence system)
Boxes = physiological mechanisms
Lines = communication between boxes
Circles = communication of messages
Disparity
Gain = amplification (innervation)
Bias = Interfering things (e.g. diabetes)

Disparity vergence
Retinal
Retinal disparity stimulates disparity vergence innervation
disparity
Crossed retinal disparity stimulates convergence
Uncrossed RD stimulates divergence
Function
Disparity vergence = only form f vergence innervation that
directly responds to retinal disparity
Primarily responsible for maintaining binocularity by reducing
retinal disparity to minimum
All other forms of vergence innervation plays support role for
disparity vergence
Definition
Reflex controlled by magnitude and sign of retinal disparity
(crossed/uncrossed and by how much)
Mechanisms
2 antagonistic mechanisms:
1. Positive disparity vergence (convergence)
2. Negative disparity vergence (divergence)
Types
Course DV
Fine DV
Activated by large targets,
Small targets; small retinal
large retinal disparities
disparity
Responds to similar and
Requires similar images
dissimilar images
FDV innervation completes
CDV innervation provides
movements initiated by
large vergence movements
course system (sustained)
and then dissipates
FDV innervation
(transient)
accomplished by negative
feedback
Negative
Process in which motor responses reduce stimulus that created it
feedback
Closed loop feedback system
Stimulus to vergence innervation > EOMs verge
Feedback sent back to disparity vergence sensory system >
informs sensory system that less disparity exists > less
innervation produced
Continues until retinal disparity is reduced to minimum > no
stimulus anymore
Fixation
In practice, retinal disparity doesnt get reduced to zero in
disparity
feedback loop
Slight deviation from perfect alignment exists that allows for
continuous innervation of system (FD)
Figure 5-10: simplified box diagram representing feedback control in disparity
vergence.
CD: convergence demand.
: summation.
rd: retinal disparity.
DV: disparity vergence.
dvi: disparity vergence innervation
CR: convergence response
Amount of fixation disparity needed to drive fine disparity vergence is a function of the
demand on the vergence system and of the gain of the fine disparity system

Gain
Definition

FD

Measureme
nt
Bias

Quantitative description of efficiency of FDV systems ability to

convert RD into vergence innervation
High gain (e.g. 100 usual) is more efficient than low.
Larger gains are associated with smaller FD
If patient has large FD, it must be caused by a large disparity
vergence demand, a low disparity gain or both
Cannot measure gain directly
Inversely proportional to FD
To reduce disparity vergence demand, other vergence innervators
can be used to supply a portion of the vergence innervation needed
for sustained ocular alignment = Bias

Examples:
1. Accommodation
2. Proximity
3. AC/A
4. CA/C
Reflex accommodation
Stimulus
Blur
Mechanism
Negative feedback system
Figure 5-11: Box diagrams illustrating similarity between models of feedback
control for reflex accommodation and disparity vergence
AD: accommodative demand
RA: reflex accommodation mechanism
rai: reflex accommodation innervation
CM: ciliary muscle
AR: accommodative response
EOMs: extraocular muscles

Vergence accommodation (CA/A)

Mechanism
Acts as bias for reflex accommodation, which helps to reduce
blur and make reflex accommodation more efficient
VA is summed with reflex accommodation innervation
Vergence accommodation innervation (cai) is the result of
disparity vergence and the CA/A ratio
Synkinesis
System where single stimulus results in multiple system
responses
E.G. Accommodation also results in vergence
Synkinetic relationship between vergence and vergence
accommodation exists
Vergence
Vergence accommodation helps clear object
accommodation
Disparity vergence aligns eyes on target
vs disparity
vergence
Figure 5-12: Interaction of disparity vergence innervation with accommodation
is added to the diagrams shown in Figure 5-11
CA/C: convergence accommodation/convergence ratio
cai: convergence accommodation innervation

Accommodative vergence (AC/A)

Mechanis
Blur driven reflex accommodation is synkinetically related to the
m
vergence system (AC/A ratio)
Accommodation helps align the eys as reflex accommodation takes
place
AVI
Accommodative vergence innervation is the produce of reflex
accommodation and AC/A ratio
Dual
Interconnection between accommodation and vergence
interactio
n
Figure 5-13: Interaction of reflex accommodation with convergence is added to
the diagrams shown in Figure 5-12
AC/A: accommodative convergence/accommodation
avi: accommodative vergence innervation

Tonic vergence
Definition

Dark focus/locus
Results in eyes posturing at some intermediate distance when there
is no stimulus to the system
Bias
Fixed innervational bias that doesnt depend on vision (i.e. no
stimulus)
Figure 5-14: Tonic accommodation innervation and tonic vergence innervation
added to the model in Figure 5-13.
TV and TA boxes have no input showing > neither is influenced by other
mechanisms in the accommodative and vergence systems

Vergence adaptation
Bias
Generates vergence innervational bias that helps reduce disparity
by replacing disparity vergence innervation after completion of
vergence response to a new demand
Stimulus
Retinal and blur result in vergence adaptation only if they activate
DVI, accommodative innervation or both
Usually takes minutes to fully adapt to a new magnitude of DVI
Figure 5-15: Vergence adaptation (VA) and accommodation adaptation (AA)
mechanisms added to Fig.5-14
Accommodative adaptation innervation (aai) and vergence adaptation (vai) are
stimulated by corollary discharges from both reflex accommodation and disparity
vergence and are added to their respective fast and tone accommodations

Proximal vergence and accommodation

Stimulu
Triggered by any cue that elicits depth and distance perception
s
Stimulus = perception of nearness
Innervation to iris sphincter is related to proximal cues
Near triad:
Accommodation
Vergence
Pupil
Bias
Serves as bias to vergence and accommodation
Figure 5-16: Proximal innervation added to Figure 5-15.
PD: Proximal demand (apparent nearness of visual target)
Generates proximal motor innervation by way of proximal mechanism (PX)
That innervation is sent to the accommodation and vergence systems in
accordance with the value of the proximal convergence/accommodation ratio
(PC/A)
Is summed with the other fast accommodation and vergence innervations