Modeling age-related accomodative loss in the human eye

AbstractA simplified mathematical representation of accommodation—the process by which the eye focuses on near objects—is described. This model is based upon assumptions which limit its applicability to the young human eye, but it nevertheless leads to new insights about the physiological mechanism. A hypothesis about the underlying cause(s) of presbyopia—the loss of accommodative amplitude with age—is also presented here, which combines aspects of the expanded accommodative mechanism with the aging characteristics of the human lens. Using a similar mathematical strategy which incorporates new experimental data about lens shape and aging, a more general model of the accommodative mechanism can be developed and used to test the presbyopia hypothesis