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. 2021 Sep 14:15:711713.
doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.711713. eCollection 2021.

Brain Activation Induced by Myopic and Hyperopic Defocus From Spectacles

Meng-Tian Kang  1   2 , Bo Wang  3 , An-Ran Ran  4 , Jiahe Gan  1   2 , Jialing Du  1   2 , Mayinuer Yusufu  2 , Xintong Liang  1   2 , Shi-Ming Li  1   2 , Ningli Wang  1   2
Affiliations

Brain Activation Induced by Myopic and Hyperopic Defocus From Spectacles

Meng-Tian Kang et al. Front Hum Neurosci. .

Abstract

Purpose: To assess neural changes in perceptual effects induced by myopic defocus and hyperopic defocus stimuli in ametropic and emmetropic subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Methods: This study included 41 subjects with a mean age of 26.0 ± 2.9 years. The mean spherical equivalence refraction was -0.54 ± 0.51D in the emmetropic group and -3.57 ± 2.27D in the ametropic group. The subjects were instructed to view through full refractive correction, with values of +2.00D to induce myopic defocus state and -2.00D to induce hyperopic defocus state. This was carried over in three random sessions. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion was measured using fMRI to obtain quantified regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Behavioral tests including distant visual acuity (VA) and contrast sensitivity (CS), were measured every 5 min for 30 min. Results: Myopic defocus induced significantly greater rCBF increase in four cerebral regions compared with full correction: right precentral gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, and left middle temporal gyrus (P < 0.001). The differences were less significant in low myopes than emmetropes. In the hyperopic defocus session, the increased responses of rCBF were only observed in the right and left precentral gyrus. Myopic defocused VA and CS improved significantly within 5 min and reached a plateau shortly after. Conclusion: This study revealed that myopic defocus stimuli can significantly increase blood perfusion in visual attention-related cerebral regions, which suggests a potential direction for future investigation on the relationship between retinal defocus and its neural consequences.

Keywords: arterial spin labeling; defocus; fMRI; myopia; neural change.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The handling editor declared a shared affiliation with several of the authors M-TK, JG, MY, XL, S-ML, and NW at time of review.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic diagram of the subjects receiving visual tasks.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average activation maps resulting from group analysis, showing the increase of neural activation in myopic defocus relative to clear focus state. Color scale indicates score significance level.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Average activation maps resulting from group analysis, showing the increase of neural activation in hyperopic defocus relative to clear focus state. Color scale indicates score significance level.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The rCBF signal intensity (ml/100 g/min) change in four ROI averaged over 41 subjects (error bars represent SEM).
Figure 5
Figure 5
The rCBF signal intensity (ml/100 g/min) changes in four ROIs among different refractive groups. Group 1: emmetropia, Group 2: low myopia, Group 3: moderate myopia, and Group 4: high myopia.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The time course of rCBF signal intensity (ml/100 g) within 7 min in four ROI: (1) right precentral gyrus; (2) right superior temporal; (3) left inferior parietal lobule; (4) left middle temporal gyrus. The blue curve stands for myopic defocus, orange curve stands for clear focus.
Figure 7
Figure 7
The average change of VA and CS over time.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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