REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Molecular and Cellular Pathology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1634553
This article is part of the Research TopicFrom Eye to Brain: Clinical and Pathological Implications of Ocular DisordersView all 6 articles
The Neural Signature of High Myopia: Structural and Functional Brain Alterations and Their Cognitive-Emotional Associations
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Ophthalmology, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital Chengdu, Chengdu, China
- 2Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China
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Beyond refractive error, myopia is increasingly recognized as a systemic condition with neurological implications, associated with visual dysfunction and structural retinal–choroidal alterations. This review synthesizes neuroimaging evidence demonstrating widespread neuroanatomical and functional brain changes in myopia, including cortical thinning, white matter disorganization, and disrupted functional connectivity, which may be associated with changes in cognitive-emotional systems rather than just the visual system. Mechanistically, these neural signatures reflect experience-dependent neural plasticity, dopaminergic dysregulation in the retinal ON pathway, and non-image-forming disruptions mediated by intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, compounded by vascular dysfunction and impaired neurovascular coupling. Clinically, these findings highlight the importance of early neurocognitive risk assessment through multimodal imaging and psychological screening. By elucidating the retina–brain axis, this review bridges ophthalmological and neurological perspectives, guiding precision interventions for comprehensive, life-course myopia management.
Keywords: Myopia, brain functions, Cognition, emotion, Cortical thinning
Received: 24 May 2025; Accepted: 23 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Zhao, Deng, Wu and Wei. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ling Wei, Department of Ophthalmology, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital Chengdu, Chengdu, China
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