The effect of spherical aberration on visual performance and refractive state for stimuli and tasks typical of night viewing

Purpose: The aim of this work was to examine the impact of Seidel spherical aberration (SA) on optimum refractive state for detecting and discriminating small bright lights on a dark background. Methods: An adaptive-optics system was used to correct ocular aberrations of cyclopleged eyes and then systematically introduce five levels of Seidel SA for a 7-mm diameter pupil: 0, ± 0.18, and ± 0.36 diopters (D) mm−2. For each level of SA, subjects were required to detect one or resolve two points of light (0.54 arc min diameter) on a dark background. Refractive error was measured by adjusting stimulus vergence to minimize detection and resolution thresholds. Two other novel focusing tasks for si…