The following reports and experiments show that the cornea has the capacity to
dramatically change its shape over short periods of time. I have included some work on bird corneas, for what it's worth. For the birds studied, corneal
change is a regular part of accommodation (focusing).
Certainly, in the human eye,
the change the cornea during accommodation, if it exists, is very slight. However, the effects may indeed be very significant over time. A better
understanding of how the muscles of the human eye affect the cornea could bring
us far towards finding cures and determining preventive measures for myopia
and astigmatism.
- Bird corneas
- Glasser, Adrian; Troilo, David; Howland HC. 1994. The mechanism of corneal
accommodation in chicks. Vision Research 34: 1549-66.
- Trolio, David, and Josh Wallman. 1987. Changes in corneal curvature during accommodation in chicks. Vision Research 27, 241-47.
- Schaeffel, Frank, and Howard Howland. 1987. Corneal accommodation in chick and pigeon. Journal of comparative physiology A 160, 375-380.
- Animal experiments
- Kwitko S; Sawusch MR; McDonnell PJ; Gritz DC. Moreira H; Evensen-D. 1991.
Effect of extraocular muscle surgery on corneal topography. Arch-Ophthalmol.
109: 873-8. (rabbits)
- Human Corneas
- Bierly JR, Hainsworth DP, Schmeisser ET, Baker RS. Effect of extraocular
muscle surgery on corneal topography. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci
1993;31(suppl):1249.
- Bowman KJ, Smith G, Carney LG. 1979. Corneal Topography and Monocular Diplopia Following Near Work. Am J Optom & Physiol Opt 55:818-823.
- Fairmaid, J.A. 1959. The Constancy of Corneal Curvature: An Examination of Corneal Response to Changes in Accommodation and Convergence.
- Home, Everard. 1795. The Croonian Lecture
on Muscular Motion.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 85, p. 1ff.
- Knoll, Henry A. 1975. Bilateral Monocular Diplopia After Near Work. American Journal of Optometry and Physiological Optics 52:139-40, 432 (errata).
- Kwitko S; Feldon S; McDonnell PJ. 1992. Corneal topographic changes following strabismus surgery in Grave's disease. Cornea 11: 36-40.
- Parker, J.W. 1930. Changes in Corneal Astigmatism.
Optical Journal and Review, April 11, 1930, 21-22.
- Preslan MW; Cioffi G; Min YI. 1992. Refractive error changes following strabismus surgery. J-Pediatr-Ophthalmol-Strabismus 29:300-4.