Visual deprivation causes myopia in chicks with optic nerve section.

Deprivation of form vision restricted to a region of the retina produces myopia and axial elongation only in that region. We asked whether this control of eye growth by the presence or absence of visual stimuli might take place entirely within the eye. Chicks with neonatal optic nerve section, wearing an occluder that deprived one half of the retina of form vision, had vitreous chamber elongation and myopia both restricted to the deprived region. Chicks with optic nerve section but without occluders had eyes smaller than normal with severe hyperopia. These results suggest that two different mechanisms may control eye growth, one within the eye and the other in the brain.