DEVELOPMENT OF CONTRAST SENSITIVITY ACROSS THE VISUAL-FIELD IN MACAQUE MONKEYS (MACACA-NEMESTRINA)

Interpretation of measurements of visual performance in infants must b e based on knowledge of the locus of highest sensitivity in the infant retina. While we know that adult contrast sensitivity and spatial res olution is highest at the fovea, recent anatomical data show that the infant fovea is relatively immature. We have studied the variation of contrast sensitivity across the visual field during development in inf ant monkeys in order to investigate the behavioral consequences of thi s immaturity, The results show that, unlike adults, the sensitivity of the infant foveal region is similar to that of the near periphery, Ce ntral contrast sensitivity and spatial resolution improve substantiall y relative to the periphery over the first 20-40 postnatal weeks. Thus , contrast sensitivity in the periphery is relatively mature in infant s with respect to more central regions of the visual field, The matura tion pattern seen behaviorally is consistent with physiological and an atomical maturation patterns in macaque monkey,