What to Know About Eye Dominance
Eye dominance is the preference of one eye over the other for visual tasks. This preference is typically determined by which eye is more accurate and/or has better visual acuity.
Why is eye dominance important?
Eye dominance is important for a number of reasons, including:
* Depth perception: Eye dominance helps us to perceive depth by providing a slightly different view of the world to each eye. This slight difference in view allows our brains to calculate the distance between objects.
* Visual comfort: Eye dominance can affect visual comfort, especially when performing tasks that require a lot of focus, such as reading or working on a computer. If one eye is significantly more dominant than the other, this can cause problems with eye strain, headaches, and even dizziness.
* Sports performance: Eye dominance can also affect sports performance, especially in activities that require precise hand-eye coordination, such as baseball, tennis, and golf. For athletes, determining their eye dominance can help them to improve their performance by using their dominant eye for aiming and targeting.
How is eye dominance determined?
There are a number of ways to determine eye dominance, including:
* The hole-in-the-card test: This is a simple test that can be done at home. Hold a card with a small hole in the middle at arm's length. Close one eye and look at a distant object through the hole. Then, switch eyes. The eye that sees the object more clearly through the hole is your dominant eye.
* The sighting test: This test is typically performed by an eye doctor. It involves using a device called a sighting scope to measure the strength of each eye's vision. The stronger eye is your dominant eye.
* The binocular rivalry test: This test is also typically performed by an eye doctor. It involves looking at a pair of images that are slightly different from each other, one for each eye. The image that you see more clearly is from your dominant eye.
Can eye dominance change?
Eye dominance can change over time, especially in children. However, this is not always the case. Some people have a lifelong dominant eye, while others may experience a change in dominance at some point in their lives.
Can eye dominance be corrected?
If you have a strong eye dominance that's causing problems with visual comfort or sports performance, it is possible to correct it. Vision therapy is a type of treatment that can help to strengthen the weaker eye and improve overall eye coordination. In some cases, prisms may also be prescribed to help correct eye dominance.