J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2009 Feb;50(2):275-279. 10.3341/jkos.2009.50.2.275.

The Refractive Errors of Dominant and Non-dominant Eyes

• Cho KJ
• Kim SY
• Yang SW

• KMID: 2212062
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2009.50.2.275

Abstract

PURPOSE
To evaluate differences between dominant and non-dominant eyes through analyzing refractive factors in determination of the dominant eye.
METHODS
Sixty-two subjects without underlying ocular disease were recruited. Ocular dominance was determined using the hole-in-the-card test. Uncorrected visual acuity, refractive error, and intraocular pressure (IOP) were checked in both eyes.
RESULTS
Mean uncorrected visual acuity of the dominant and non-dominant eye were 0.41 and 0.39, respectively. The number of patients whose uncorrected visual acuity of the dominant eye was superior to the non-dominant eye was 18(29%), and inferior to the non-dominant eye was 18(29%). Mean refractive power in the dominant eye was -3.2 diopter and -3.43 diopter degrees in the non-dominant eye, therefore no difference in degrees of myopia between the groups (P=0.282) was observed. The number of patients whose dominant eye had a greater degree of myopia than the non-dominant eye was 24(39%) and the patients with a lower degree of myopia in the dominant eye was 32(52%). Astigmatism of the dominant eye was lower than the non-dominant eye in 35(56%) of the patients, thus a significant relationship was shown between astigmatism and the dominant eye (P=0.0014). The mean IOP of the dominant eye was 15.4 mmHg and the non-dominant eye was 15.7 mmHg, showing no significant difference between eyes.
CONCLUSIONS
The dominant eye showed a lower degree of astigmatism than the non-dominant eye. The previous belief that myopia is more progressed in the dominant eye than the non-dominant eye because of excessive accommodative use of the dominant eye requires further study.

Keyword

Astigmatism; Dominant eye; Non-dominant eye; Visual acuity

MeSH Terms

Astigmatism
Dominance, Ocular
Eye
Humans
Intraocular Pressure
Myopia
Refractive Errors
Visual Acuity

Reference

References

1. Koo BS, Cho YA. The relationship of dominant eye, dominant hand, and deviated eye in strabismus. J Korean Ophthalmol Soc. 1996; 37:1277–82.

2. Duke-Elder WS. The physiology of the eye and of vision: System of ophthalmology. 4. St Louis: CV Mosby;1968. p. 687.

3. Choi JS, Ko CJ. A study on dominant eye. J Korean Ophthalmol Soc. 1983; 24:459–62.

4. Fink WH. The dominant eye: its clinical significance. Arch Ophthalmol. 1938; 4:555–82.

5. Porac C, Coren S. The dominant eye. Psychol Bull. 1976; 83:880–97.

6. Mapp AP, Ono H, Barbeito R. What does the dominant eye dominate? A brief and somewhat contentious review. Percept Psychophys. 2003; 65:310–7.

7. Cheng CY, Yen MY, Lin HY, et al. Association of ocular dominance and anisometropic myopia. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2004; 45:2856–60.

8. Ibi K. Characteristics of dynamic accommodation responses: comparison between the dominant and non-dominant eyes. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 1997; 17:44–54.

9. Han Y, Seideman M, Lennerstrand G. Dynamics of accommodative vergence movements controlled by the dominant and non-dominant eye. Acta Ophthalmol Scand. 1995; 73:319–24.

10. Lin SY, White GE. Mandibular position and head posture as a function of eye dominance. J Clin Pediatr Dent. 1996; 20:133–40.

11. Kawata H, Ohtsuka K. Dynamic asymmetries in convergence eye movements under natural viewing conditions. Jpn J Ophthalmol. 2001; 45:437–44.

12. Coren S, Duckman RH. Ocular dominance and amblyopia. Am J Optom Physiol Opt. 1975; 52:47–50.

13. Waheed K, Laidlaw DA. Disease laterality, eye dominance, and visual handcap in patients with unilateral full thickness macular holes. Br J Ophthalmol. 2003; 87:626–8.

14. Brackenridge CJ. The contribution of genetic factors to ocular dominance. Behav Genet. 1982; 12:319–25.

15. Belmonte C, Bartels SP, Liu JH, Neufeld AH. Effects of stimulation of the ocular sympathetic nerves on IOP and aqueous humor flow. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1987; 28:1649–54.

16. Greaves DP, Perkins ES. Influence of the sympathetic nervous system on the intraocular pressure and vascular circulation of the eye. Br J Ophthalmol. 1952; 36:258–64.

17. Langham ME, Rosenthal AR. Role of the cervical sympathetic nerve in regulating intraocular pressure and circulation. Am J Physiol. 1966; 210:786–94.

18. Innemmee HC, Van Zwieten PA. The central nervous influence of drugs on intraocular pressure. Rev Pure Appl Pharmacol Sci. 1980; 1:107–65.

19. Oldfield RC. The assessment and analysis of handedness: the Edinburg Inventory. Neuropsychologica. 1971; 9:97–113.

20. Gur RC, Turetsky BI, Matsui M, et al. Sex differences in brain gray and white matter in healthy young adults: correlations with cognitive performance. J Neurosci. 1999; 19:4065–72.

21. Hiscock M, Israelian M, Inch R, et al. Is there a sex difference in human laterality. An exhaustive survey of visual laterality studies from six neuropsychology journals. J Clin Exp Neuro-psychol. 1995; 17:590–610.

22. Geschwind DH, Miller BL, DeCarli C, Carmelli D. Heri-tability of lobar brain volumes in twins supports genetic models of cerebral laterality and handedness. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002; 99:3176–81.

23. Dane S, Gümüş tekin K, Yazici AT, Baykal O. Correlation between hand preference and intraocular pressure from right- and left-eyes in right- and left-handers. Vision Res. 2003; 43:405–8.

24. Hirsch MJ. Changes in astigmatism during the first eight years of school-an interim report from the Ojai longitudinal study. Am J Optom Arch Am Acad Optom. 1963; 40:127–32.