# Optically Induced Anisometropia

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON · 2020 · $382,500

## Abstract

7. Project Summary
Soon after birth, most infants develop the optimal refractive error (i.e., “clinical” emmetropia) in both eyes that
is then maintained throughout childhood and into early adult life. However, for reasons not currently
understood, a significant and rapidly increasing proportion of the population develop myopia or
nearsightedness. Because of structural changes that take place as the eye becomes myopic, myopia, even
low degrees of myopia, pose a significant risk for multiple blinding conditions. As a consequence, myopia is
now one of the leading causes of permanent visual impairment in the world. The long-term goal of our
research program is to provide a better understanding of the etiology of common forms of myopia (e.g.,
juvenile onset myopia) and ultimately to develop effective treatment strategies the reduce the burden of
myopia. The specific aims of our proposed research are to determine how visual experience affects refractive
development, to characterize the operational properties of the vision-dependent mechanisms that regulate
eye growth, and to explore new pharmaceutical approaches to eliminate myopia. Since many of the required
experiments can not be conducted in humans, but our purpose is to generate knowledge that can be applied
to human development, these experiments will be conducted using rhesus monkeys. Controlled rearing
strategies and optical and biometric measurement techniques will be used to determine: 1) the effects of low
ambient light levels on emmetropization and vision-dependent changes in eye growth, 2) the influence of the
spectral composition of ambient lighting on axial growth and refractive development, and 3) whether
adenosine receptor antagonists can retard the development of myopia. The proposed experiments focus on
fundamental issues concerning the manner in which visual experience influences refractive development and
are an important step in determining how and to what extent visual experience contributes to the genesis of
common human refractive errors. More importantly, the results of these studies will potentially provide the
scientific foundation for qualitatively new treatment and management strategies for the most common forms
of myopia.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9831640
- **Project number:** 5R01EY003611-37
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** EARL L SMITH
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $382,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1981-02-01 → 2021-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9831640

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9831640, Optically Induced Anisometropia (5R01EY003611-37). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9831640. Licensed CC0.

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