At 12:54 AM 6/9/99 -0500, Steve wrote:
>Interestingly, the researchers were able to create near-sighted animals by
giving them a
>"dull" field of vision, where everything was roughly the same brightness.
Apparently the
>lack of contrast was sufficient to not convince the retina that focus had
been achieved,
>and the signal was reduced/eliminated/delayed (not sure which).
Speculation then is that
>the old wives' tale is true: spend your childhood with your nose in a
book (low visual
>contrast, especially for peripheral vision where everything from the page
looks gray),
>and you'll need glasses! Has anyone heard whether this theory has been
validated or
>disproven?
>
>If this theory holds, one would expect the current colorful TV and
computer displays to
>be less damaging to eyesight than paper books.
>
I am severely nearsighted. Always attributed this to having measles and chicken pox together as a four year old.
Recently, I saw an article in the paper that said using night lights in children's rooms could contribute to nearsightedness - perhaps the same mechanism?