Acuity: The maximum displacement of a periodic wave or greatness of magnitude.

Amplifier: Electronic equipment that increases strength of signals passing through it.

Amblyopia: “Dimness of Vision,” Amblyopia is a common visual impairment. It is commonly referred to as “lazy eye,” this condition can occur when there is considerable difference in refractive error between the two eyes of an individual. If uncorrected, Amblyopia may lead to irreversible vision loss.

Astigmatism: A defect in a curvature of the cornea or lens of the eye. As a result, a ray of light is not sharply focused on the retina but is spread irregularly.

Cornea: Transparent anterior portion of the outer covering of the eye; it covers the lens and iris and is continuous with the sclera.

CPU (Central Processing Unit): The Enfant’s computer. It processes the data received from the filter amplifier.

Electronic Response: A signal that is produced in direct correlation to the stimulus.

Hyperopia: Farsightedness; a person can see distant objects more clearly than close objects. A refractive error in which the eyeball is too short from front to back or the refractive power of the eye is too weak, so that parallel rays of light brought to a focus behind the retina.

Impulse: The electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber.

Latency: The time that elapses between a stimulus and the response to it.

Lens: Part of the eye that is transparent and is used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images.

Lateral Geniculate Nucleas (LGN): Distributes the electric signal to the visual cortex.

Magnitude: Size of the evoked potential generated by the brain.

Misalignment: A muscle imbalance where the two eyes are not aligned either horizontally, vertically or both. See strabismus.

Monocular blindness: Blindness in one eye.

Myopia: Nearsightedness; a person can see near objects clearly while distant objects appeared blurred. A refractive error in which the eyeball is too long or the refractive power to strong, so that parallel rays of light are focused in front of the retina.

Non-Invasive: For the purposes of an eye exam this means no drops or touching the eye in any way.

Ophthalmologist: A medical doctor specializing in the treatment of diseases of the eye.

Optometrist: A person skilled in testing for defects of vision in order to prescribe corrective glasses.

Optic Nerve: Delivers the electrical signal from the retina to the Lateral Geniculate Nucleas.

Phase: Latency of the signal from the eye to the visual cortex of the brain.

Pre-Verbal: Before talking.

Pre-Literate: Before reading.

Refractive Error: A defect in the eye that prevents light rays from being brought to a sharp focus exactly on the retina. The amount of myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism presents in the eye.

Retina: The sensory membrane that lines the eye, receives the image formed by the lens, is the immediate instrument of vision, and is connected with the brain by optic nerve.

Spatial Frequency: Grading frequency that is equivalent to the Snellen eye chart.

Snellen Acuity Chart: Display consisting of a printed card with letters and numbers in lines decreasing in size; used to test visual acuity.

Strabismus: The two eyes are not directed at the same point; misalignment of the eye.

Sweeps: Predetermined set of patterns.

Visual Cortex: The cortical area that receives information from the lateral geniculate body of the thalamus.

Visual Evoked Potential (VEP): The VEP is an electrical signal generated in response to a known visual stimulus.