Superior underwater vision in a human population of sea gypsies
Gislén, Anna LU ; Dacke, Marie LU ; Kröger, Ronald LU ; Abrahamsson, Mats ; Nilsson, Dan-E LU and Warrant, Eric LU
(2003)
In Current Biology
13(10).
p.833-836
- Abstract
- Humans are poorly adapted for underwater vision. In air, the curved corneal surface accounts for two-thirds of the eye's refractive power, and this is lost when air is replaced by water [1]. Despite this, some tribes of sea gypsies in Southeast Asia live off the sea, and the children collect food from the sea floor without the use of visual aids [2]. This is a remarkable feat when one considers that the human eye is not focused underwater and small objects should remain unresolved. We have measured the visual acuity of children in a sea gypsy population, the Moken, and found that the children see much better underwater than one might expect. Their underwater acuity (6.06 cycles/degree) is more than twice as good as that of European... (More)
- Humans are poorly adapted for underwater vision. In air, the curved corneal surface accounts for two-thirds of the eye's refractive power, and this is lost when air is replaced by water [1]. Despite this, some tribes of sea gypsies in Southeast Asia live off the sea, and the children collect food from the sea floor without the use of visual aids [2]. This is a remarkable feat when one considers that the human eye is not focused underwater and small objects should remain unresolved. We have measured the visual acuity of children in a sea gypsy population, the Moken, and found that the children see much better underwater than one might expect. Their underwater acuity (6.06 cycles/degree) is more than twice as good as that of European children (2.95 cycles/degree). Our investigations show that the Moken children achieve their superior underwater vision by maximally constricting the pupil (1.96 mm compared to 2.50 mm in European children) and by accommodating to the known limit of human performance (15-16 D) [3]. This extreme reaction-which is routine in Moken children-is completely absent in European children. Because they are completely dependent on the sea, the Moken are very likely to derive great benefit from this strategy. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/310971
- author
- Gislén, Anna
LU
; Dacke, Marie
LU
; Kröger, Ronald
LU
; Abrahamsson, Mats
; Nilsson, Dan-E
LU
and Warrant, Eric
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2003
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Current Biology
- volume
- 13
- issue
- 10
- pages
- 833 - 836
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:12747831
- wos:000182903300019
- scopus:0038394481
- ISSN
- 1879-0445
- DOI
- 10.1016/S0960-9822(03)00290-2
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 9cfff97d-3d10-4b23-a775-01ea7323b342 (old id 310971)
- alternative location
- http://www.current-biology.com/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS0960982203002902
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 12:05:21
- date last changed
- 2022-04-29 00:28:52
@article{9cfff97d-3d10-4b23-a775-01ea7323b342,
abstract = {{Humans are poorly adapted for underwater vision. In air, the curved corneal surface accounts for two-thirds of the eye's refractive power, and this is lost when air is replaced by water [1]. Despite this, some tribes of sea gypsies in Southeast Asia live off the sea, and the children collect food from the sea floor without the use of visual aids [2]. This is a remarkable feat when one considers that the human eye is not focused underwater and small objects should remain unresolved. We have measured the visual acuity of children in a sea gypsy population, the Moken, and found that the children see much better underwater than one might expect. Their underwater acuity (6.06 cycles/degree) is more than twice as good as that of European children (2.95 cycles/degree). Our investigations show that the Moken children achieve their superior underwater vision by maximally constricting the pupil (1.96 mm compared to 2.50 mm in European children) and by accommodating to the known limit of human performance (15-16 D) [3]. This extreme reaction-which is routine in Moken children-is completely absent in European children. Because they are completely dependent on the sea, the Moken are very likely to derive great benefit from this strategy.}},
author = {{Gislén, Anna and Dacke, Marie and Kröger, Ronald and Abrahamsson, Mats and Nilsson, Dan-E and Warrant, Eric}},
issn = {{1879-0445}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{10}},
pages = {{833--836}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Current Biology}},
title = {{Superior underwater vision in a human population of sea gypsies}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0960-9822(03)00290-2}},
doi = {{10.1016/S0960-9822(03)00290-2}},
volume = {{13}},
year = {{2003}},
}