Accommodation with and without short-wavelength-sensitive cones and chromatic aberration

Accommodation was monitored while observers (23) viewed a square-wave grating (2.2 cycles/deg; 0.53 contrast) in a Badal optometer. The grating moved sinusoidally (0.2 Hz) to provide a stimulus between −1.00 D and −3.00 D during trials lasting 40.96 s. There were three illumination conditions: 1. Monochromatic 550 nm light to stimulate long-wavelength-sensitive cones (L-cones) and medium-wavelength-sensitive cones (M-cones) without chromatic aberration; 2. Monochromatic 550 nm light + 420 nm light to stimulate long-, medium- and short-wavelength-sensitive cones (S-cones) with longitudinal chromatic aberration (LCA); 3. Monochromatic 550 nm light + 420 nm light to stimulate L-, M- and S-cones viewed through an achromatizing lens. In the presence of LCA mean dynamic gain decreased (p = 0.0003; ANOVA) and mean accommodation level was reduced (p = 0.001; ANOVA). The reduction in gain and increased lag of accommodation in the presence of LCA could result from a blue-yellow chromatic signal or from a larger depth-of-focus.