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The term "brainy specs" was invented by the Tenth Doctor to describe glasses that the Fifth Doctor didn't "even need" but which "made him look a bit clever". The older Doctor then admitted to wearing a pair of faux eyewear himself. (TV: Time Crash)
Most incarnations of the Doctor did not employ eyewear of any kind. It was entirely unclear whether the First Doctor's glasses were medically necessary or whether they were merely "brainy specs". (TV: The Time Meddler et al) By contrast, the Eleventh Doctor appropriated Amy Pond's reading glasses and noted that they did in fact making reading easier. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan) Indeed, Amy's glasses were the only glasses every carried by the Doctor which were known to be genuinely corrective lenses resulting from an optometrist's prescription. (TV: The Power of Three)