Abstract
To examine the effects of ingested alcohol on vergence, we measured vergence in 8 male emmetropes, aged 21–23 years, under two alcohol dosage conditions (placebo and 1.5 ml/kg of 95% ethanol). For each of these conditions, after consumption of the appropriate drink, dark vergence and fusional and accommodative vergence to near and far targets (viewing distance = 30 cm and 6 cm) were assessed every 30 min for a total of 6 h. Intoxication produced significant increases in convergence for far fusional and far accommodative targets. Intoxication also led to a tendency toward decreased convergence for near fusional and near accommodative targets, although the results were less clear than in the case of the far viewing conditions. Dark vergence did not change with intoxication; it also did not appear to be significantly related to other alcohol-induced vergence changes, although the size of the sample made it impossible to reach meaningful conclusions regarding this last point.
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This research was supported in part by funds provided by the State of Washington Initiative Measure No. 171 for medical and biological research in alcoholism. Portions of it were presented at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Boston, November 1985.
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Miller, R., Pigion, R.G. & Takahama, M. The effects of ingested alcohol on accommodative, fusional, and dark vergence. Perception & Psychophysics 39, 25–31 (1986). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207580
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207580