Long term visual deprivation in a human.

D.C. had a congenital monocular cataract removed at 19 years of age. Preoperatively, he was virtually blind in the deprived eye. By 4 months after surgery he could resolve about 1.4 c/deg by acuity did not improve further over the next 7 months. Immediately postoperatively, the temporal retina was blind, but over the next 4 months its visual field increased to 20. The temporal retina continued, however, to have elevated thresholds. D.C. also exhibited a peculiar form of binocular competition. Thresholds of the deprived binocular portions of the nasal retina were greatly elevated by light falling on the non-deprived eye. Visual function in the non-deprived eye was normal.