Do eyes grow

[autumn1971]

Does a newborn baby have eyes that are the same size as his adult eyes?

I know that mammilian babies have proportionally larger eyes than adults, but what of the common assertion that our eyes do not increase in size as we, as humans, mature?

[Dogdoctor]

I have no scientific evidence but I am pretty sure they grow quite a bit.

[Big Al]

Not a lot, actually. Babies have comparatively huge heads and eyes. There is some growth (that's where developing long and short sight come from), but nowhere near as much as the rest of the body.

[Mr. Scott]

Does a newborn baby have eyes that are the same size as his adult eyes?

I know that mammilian babies have proportionally larger eyes than adults, but what of the common assertion that our eyes do not increase in size as we, as humans, mature?

It's been a long time since I've read a report on this, so I'm going on memory, although a google search for "eyes grow focus" turned up some enlightening articles like this one (http://www.geocities.com/otisbrown17268/GUY.TXT)

The distance between the lens and the retina (eyeball diameter), ideally the "focal length," is crucial for a lifetime reception of clear images. Baby eyeballs are too small to focus well, but the reception of blurred images has been shown to result in eyeball growth to compensate. Apparently, children who's eyes are in the growth phase who read a lot may develop nearsightedness, since their eyeballs will continue growing beyond their normal stopping point. Children who seldom read but more often play outside will develop better distance vision. Somehow, the reception of fuzzy images stimulates the eyeball to grow, and the reception of clear images stops the growth. This has been demonstrated by experiments on rhesus monkeys, as described in the linked article above. I quote from it below:

Texas researchers raised 11 infant monkeys with
glasses fixed permanently in front of their eyes. The left lens
was always plain, flat glass, while the right lens (plus or minus)
caused images to focus either in front of the retina or behind it.
After three months, one eye had grown more than the other,
presumably to position the retina at the proper spot for clear
vision. When the spectacles were removed, the monkeys' eyes again
grew at different rates and eventually returned to similar
lengths, restoring their vision to normal.

[Gord_in_Toronto]

I have been led to believe (checks sig carefully) that human eyes double in size from birth to adulthood.

I tried a bit of Googling for this but did not get very far.

Now off to the park to have a picnic with my wife. :D

[joshbuckley]

I think during birth a child's head is 1/3 of his/her body, while in adults that ratio is 1/7. I assume somewhat similar ratios would apply to eyes as well.

[Dogdoctor]

I found a web page that states that the average eye grows from about 18mm to 24-25mm. I'd say that is a significant amount of growth.
http://www.tedmontgomery.com/the_eye/overview.html

[Gord_in_Toronto]

I found a web page that states that the average eye grows from about 18mm to 24-25mm. I'd say that is a significant amount of growth.
http://www.tedmontgomery.com/the_eye/overview.html

Ah. That's less than doubling of the diameter and about three times the volume.

I'll respect my sig.

[autumn1971]

I found a web page that states that the average eye grows from about 18mm to 24-25mm. I'd say that is a significant amount of growth.
http://www.tedmontgomery.com/the_eye/overview.html


Thank you. I only found, in my cursory search, language such as "very little", "not noticably", and so on.