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Ocular dominance, sometimes called eye dominance or eyednessChaurasia BD, Mathur BB. "Eyedness." Acta Anat (Basel). 1976;96(2):301-5.PMID 970109., is the tendency to prefer visual input from one eye to the otherKhan AZ, Crawford JD. "Ocular dominance reverses as a function of horizontal gaze angle." Vision Res. 2001 Jun;41(14):1743-8. PMID 11369037. It is somewhat analogous to the laterality of right or left handedness, however the side of the dominant eye and the dominant hand do not always matchPorac C, Coren S. Is eye dominance a part of generalized laterality? Percept Mot Skills. 1975 Jun;40(3):763-9. PMID 1178363..

Approximately two-thirds of the population is right-eye dominantReiss MR. "Ocular dominance: some family data." Laterality. 1997;2(1):7-16. PMID 15513049.Ehrenstein WH, Arnold-Schulz-Gahmen BE, Jaschinski W. "Eye preference within the context of binocular functions." Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2005 Sep;243(9):926-32. Epub 2005 Apr 19. PMID 15838666.; however, neither eye is dominant in a small portion of the population. Dominance does appear to change depending upon direction of gazeQuartley J, Firth AY. "Binocular sighting ocular dominance changes with different angles of horizontal gaze." Binocul Vis Strabismus Q. 2004;19(1):25-30. PMID 14998366. due to image size changes on the retinasBanks MS, Ghose T, Hillis JM. "Relative image size, not eye position, determines eye dominance switches." Vision Res. 2004 Feb;44(3):229-34. PMID 14642894.. There also appears to be a higher prevalence of left-eye dominance in those with Williams-Beuren syndromeVan Strien JW, Lagers-Van Haselen GC, Van Hagen JM, De Coo IF, Frens MA, Van Der Geest JN. "Increased prevalences of left-handedness and left-eye sighting dominance in individuals with Williams-Beuren syndrome." J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2005 Nov;27(8):967-76. PMID 16207621., and possibly in migraine sufferers as wellAygul R, Dane S, Ulvi H. Handedness, eyedness, and crossed hand-eye dominance in male and female patients with migraine with and without aura: a pilot study. Percept Mot Skills. 2005 Jun;100(3 Pt 2):1137-42. PMID 16158700. Eye dominance has been catagorized as "weak" or "strong"Handa T, Shimizu K, Mukuno K, Kawamorita T, Uozato H. "Effects of ocular dominance on binocular summation after monocular reading adds." J Cataract Refract Surg. 2005 Aug;31(8):1588-92. PMID 16129296; highly profound cases are sometimes caused by amblyopia.

In those with anisometropic myopia (i.e. different amounts of nearsightedness between the two eyes), the dominant eye has been found to be the one with more myopiaCheng CY, Yen MY, Lin HY, Hsia WW, Hsu WM. "Association of ocular dominance and anisometropic myopia." Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2004 Aug;45(8):2856-60. PMID 15277513.Goldschmidt E, Lyhne N, Lam CS. "Ocular anisometropia and laterality." Acta Ophthalmol Scand. 2004 Apr;82(2):175-8. PMID 15043536..

Importance of ocular dominance

In normal binocular vision there is an effect of parallax, and therefore the dominant eye is the one that is primarily relied on for precise positional information. This may be especially important in sports which require aim, such as archery, darts or shooting sports.

It has been asserted that cross-dominance (in which the dominant eye is on one side and the dominant hand is on the other) is advantageous in sports requiring side-on stances (e.g. baseball, cricket, golf)Brian Ariel. "Sports Vision Training: An expert guide to improving performance by training the eyes."; however, a recent South African study found that "cricketers were not more likely to have crossed dominance" than the normal populationThomas NG, Harden LM, Rogers GG. "Visual evoked potentials, reaction times and eye dominance in cricketers." J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2005 Sep;45(3):428-33. PMID 16230997.

Ocular dominance is an important consideration in predicting patient satisfaction with monovision correction in cataract surgeryHanda T, Mukuno K, Uozato H, Niida T, Shoji N, Minei R, Nitta M, Shimizu K. "Ocular dominance and patient satisfaction after monovision induced by intraocular lens implantation." J Cataract Refract Surg. 2004 Apr;30(4):769-74. PMID 15093637., refractive surgery, and contact lens wear.

Determination of ocular dominance

A person's dominant eye "is determined by subjective alignment of two objects presented at a stereodisparity far beyond Panum's area"Kromeier M, Heinrich SP, Bach M, Kommerell G. "Ocular prevalence and stereoacuity." Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2006 Jan;26(1):50-6. PMID 16390482. There are a number of ways to do this:

  1. The "Miles test". The observer extends both arms, brings both hands together to create a small opening, then with both eyes open views a distant object through the opening. The observer then alternates closing the eyes or slowly draws opening back to the head to determine which eye is viewing the object (i.e. the dominant eye)Roth HL, Lora AN, Heilman KM. "Effects of monocular viewing and eye dominance on spatial attention." Brain. 2002 Sep;125(Pt 9):2023-35. PMID 12183348.*.
  2. The "Porta test". The observer extends one arm, then with both eyes open aligns the thumb or index finger with a distant object. The observer then alternates closing the eyes or slowly draws the thumb/finger back to the head to determine which eye is viewing the object (i.e. the dominant eye) **.
  3. The observer extends one arm, forms a small, circular opening with the thumb and index finger, then with both eyes open views a distant object through the opening. The observer then alternates closing the eyes or slowly draws the opening back to the head to determine which eye is viewing the object (i.e. the dominant eye).
  4. The "Dolman method" also known as the "hole-in-the-card test". The subject is given a card with a small hole in the middle, instructed to hold it with both hands, then instructed to view a distant object through the hole with both eyes open. The observer then alternates closing the eyes or slowly draws the opening back to the head to determine which eye is viewing the object (i.e. the dominant eye).
  5. The "convergence near-point test". The subject fixates an object that is moved toward the nose until divergence of one eye occurs (i.e. the non-dominant eye). It is an objective test of ocular dominance.
  6. Certain stereograms*.
  7. The "Pinhole test"Berens C, Zerbe J. "A new pinhole test and eye-dominance tester." Am J Ophthalmol. 1953 Jul;36(7:1):980-1. PMID 13065383.
  8. The "Ring test"Safra D. "Ring Test" for evaluating eye dominance. Klin Monatsbl Augenheilkd. 1989 Jul;195(1):35-6. PMID 2796230.

"Forced choice" tests dominance, such as the Dolman method, allow only a right or left eye result.

References

See also

Ophthalmology | Vision

Oogdominantie

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Ocular dominance".

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