ADAPTATION TO THE PRISMATIC EFFECTS OF REFRACTIVE LENSES

Adaptation to the simple visual displacement of prisms was compared to that for refractive lenses, which have a varied prismatic effect. Sub jects were made myopic using contact lenses, then corrected using spec tacle lenses. The effect on the perceived direction of a randomly loca ted target was assessed from pointing behavior. Prism adaptation showe d a negative directional aftereffect but lacked intermanual transfer. Lens adaptation lacked a negative aftereffect but exhibited intermanua l transfer. The results suggest that lens adaptation involves a recali bration of extra-retinal eye movement information and multiple sets of lens adaptation can be retained for short periods. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.