Abstract

For the last several years,^1,2 we have been developing a new type of perimetry based on pattern discrimination instead of light detection. The test requires the patient to detect a patch of nonrandom dots (the "pattern") embedded in a surrounding field of random dots. We have argued that, in theory, this test should be more sensitive to early glaucomatous optic nerve damage than light detection perimetry because pattern detection requires cooperating responses from a number of neighboring ganglion cells, whereas light detection can be mediated by single ganglion cells.

© 1988 Optical Society of America