Optically Induced Peripheral Contrast Reduction Restores ON/OFF Pathway Balance in Myopic Eyes

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate ON/OFF pathway responses and the impact of contrast reduction in myopes and emmetropes. Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Subjects: Thirty-eight young adult participants aged 20 to 29 years were included. Their spherical equivalent refraction ranged from +0.75 to -5.75 diopters (D). Methods: All participants (20 myopes, 18 emmetropes) underwent multifocal electroretinogram recording after 90 minutes of exposure to monocular diffuse (contrast reduction) conditions. The 5 experimental conditions were assessed in random order on separate days for each participant: control (no diffuse), slight peripheral diffuse (0.8 Bangerter foil, 5 mm clear center), medium peripheral diffuse (MPD) (0.4 Bangerter foil, 9 mm clear center), MPD (0.4 Bangerter foil, 5 mm clear center), and medium full-field diffuse (0.4 Bangerter foil). Main Outcome Measures: P1- and P2-wave amplitudes, as well as the P2/P1 amplitude ratio at varying retinal eccentricities were analyzed. Results: > 0.05). Conclusions: Peripheral contrast reduction significantly strengthened OFF-pathway responses, contributing to the restoration of ON/OFF pathway balance in myopic eyes. Financial Disclosures: The author has no/the authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.