Clinical suppression in monkeys reared with abnormal binocular visual experience.

To determine if monkeys exhibit clinical suppression in response to early abnormal binocular vision, we compared dichoptic to monocular luminance increment thresholds in monkeys reared with alternating monocular defocus or optically induced strabismus. In the absence of amblyopia, clinical suppression was associated with strabismus and with as little as 1.50 diopters of anisometropia. The severity of suppression was roughly correlated with the magnitude of anisometropia. The demonstration of clinical suppression in monkeys provides a model for future investigations of factors that may influence the development of suppression, but which are not possible to accurately document or manipulate in human subjects.