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Corneal accommodation in chick and pigeon

Journal of Comparative Physiology A volume 160, pages 375–384 (1987)Cite this article

Summary

We have investigated the role of changes in corneal radius of curvature in effecting accommodation in the bird's eye. It was found that in natural accommodation (measured by IR photoretinoscopy) changes of corneal radius of curvature (measured by IR photokeratometry) play an important role in both the chick and the pigeon. In the adult pigeon the cornea is indeed responsible for the largest part of natural accommodation (up to approx. 9 D). In this animal the corneal diameter (as seen from the optical axis of the eye) decreases in accommodation which can be taken to explain the change of corneal radius of curvature. In the chicken, corneal accommodation is combined with other mechanisms (total accommodative range 15–17 D, corneal accommodation about 8 D). The chicken's cornea is aspherical within the pupil area leading to large measurement variation in photokeratometry if the Purkinje images are not symmetrical to the pupillary axis.

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Abbreviations

IR:

infrared

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, New York, USA

    Frank Schaeffel & Howard C. Howland

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  1. Frank Schaeffel
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  2. Howard C. Howland
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Schaeffel, F., Howland, H.C. Corneal accommodation in chick and pigeon. J. Comp. Physiol. 160, 375–384 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00613027

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00613027

Keywords

  • Optical Axis
  • Measurement Variation
  • Large Measurement
  • Corneal Radius
  • Corneal Diameter