Myopia is driven by how we use our eyes indoors, new research suggests

For years, rising rates of myopia—or nearsightedness—have been widely attributed to increased screen time, especially among children and young adults. But new research by scientists suggests the story may be more complicated—and more human.

In a new study published in Cell Reports, researchers propose that myopia may be driven less by screens themselves and more by a common indoor visual habit: prolonged close-up focus in low-light environments, which limits how much light reaches the retina.

Myopia (nearsightedness) is a visual disease that blurs vision at far distance and is becoming a world epidemic, affecting nearly 50% of young adults in the United States and Europe and close to 90% in parts of East Asia. While genetics play an important role, rapid increases over just a few generations suggest environmental factors are also critical.

The findings suggest that a common underlying factor may be how much light reaches the retina during sustained near work—particularly indoors.

Myopia progression is linked to prolonged near work in dim indoor lighting, which reduces retinal illumination due to excessive pupil constriction. This mechanism may unify how various factors—such as time outdoors, lens use, and atropine—affect myopia. Effective control likely requires bright light exposure and limiting accommodative pupil constriction during near tasks.

The disease can be induced in animal models with visual deprivation or negative lenses, and the two induction processes are thought to involve different neuronal mechanisms.

Clinicians also control myopia progression with a variety of approaches that are thought to engage multiple mechanisms (multifocal lenses, ophthalmic atropine, contrast-reduction, promoting time outdoors, and others). Scientists at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry propose a unifying neuronal mechanism in their article to explain all current approaches to myopia induction and control.

The research offers a new hypothesis that could help explain a long-standing puzzle in vision science—why so many seemingly different factors, from near work and dim indoor lighting to treatments like atropine drops, multifocal lenses, and time spent outdoors, all appear to influence myopia progression.

Part 1

In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina. When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets, or books, the pupil can also constrict, not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image. In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination
According to this mechanism, myopia develops when poor retinal illumination fails to generate robust retinal activity because the light sources are too dim and pupil constriction is too excessive at short viewing distances. Conversely, myopia does not develop when the eye is exposed to bright light and the pupil constriction is regulated by image brightness instead of viewing distance.

The new study demonstrates that negative lenses reduce retinal illumination by constricting the pupil through a process known as accommodation (i.e., an accommodative increase in the lens power of the eye when focusing on images at short distances). Such pupil constriction becomes stronger when accommodation is increased by shortening viewing distance or wearing excessively-strong negative lenses.

Moreover, pupil constriction becomes even stronger when lens accommodation is sustained for prolonged periods of time (e.g., tens of minutes), and even stronger when the eye becomes myopic. The study also demonstrates additional myopia disruptions of eye turning with accommodation and eye-blink efficacy at constricting the pupil.
If proven correct, the mechanism proposed could lead to a paradigm shift in our understanding of myopia progression and control. According to this mechanism, myopia can be controlled by exposing the eye to safe bright light levels under limited accommodative pupil constriction.

Accommodative pupil constriction can be limited by reducing accommodation strength with lenses (multifocal or contrast-reduction), blocking directly the muscles driving pupil constriction (atropine drops), or by simply spending time outdoors without engaging accommodation (looking at far distances).

Perhaps most importantly, the new mechanism predicts that any approach to myopia control will fail if the eye is exposed to excessive accommodation indoors under low light for prolonged periods of time.

Human accommodative visuomotor function is driven by contrast through ON and OFF pathways and is enhanced in myopia, Cell Reports (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2026.116938. www.cell.com/cell-reports/full … 2211-1247(26)00016-1

Part 2

Does the cold really 'seep into your bones?'
Bones themselves do not directly sense cold, as they lack temperature-sensitive receptors found in skin. However, nerves in the periosteum, the bone’s outer layer, can detect temperature changes and mechanical strain, potentially causing pain. Prolonged cold exposure may reduce bone density and thickness. Cold also stiffens joints, tendons, and ligaments, and low vitamin D in winter increases pain sensitivity.

https://theconversation.com/does-the-cold-really-seep-into-your-bon...