Spatial Perception in Normal and Strabismic Subjects: Role of Stereopsis and Monocular Clues

PURPOSE: To evaluate the roles of binocular vision, monocular clues, and experience in spatial perception in a prospective, nonrandomized, case-control study. METHODS: A test was created consisting of three wood blocks arranged along the frontal plane inside Panum area. To produce some degrees of horizontal disparity, blocks were moved along a sagittal plane. Thirteen normal subjects (control group) and 13 nonamblyopic strabismic subjects (study group) were asked to identify, both under binocular and monocular vision, the position of the blocks in a series of 12 randomized presentations (phase 1). In phase II of the trial, a letter E in three different sizes, acting as a monocular clue, marked the three blocks. In both phases, the number of correct answers to the test during binocular and monocular vision was recorded. RESULTS: Binocular normal responses appeared greater than monocular normal responses and strabismic binocular responses in both phases (p < 0.001). Binocular strabismic responses and monocular answers of both groups appeared similar. CONCLUSIONS: In our experimental model, spatial orientation of strabismic subjects in binocular vision is substantially identical to that of normal subjects in monocular vision. Monocular clues were used in the same manner in both groups of subjects, and experience seemed to play no role in spatial localization of visual objects.