Amblyopia
Conditions
Keywords
amblyopia treatment, neural plasticity, perceptual learning, vision therapy, spatial vision, video games, occlusion therapy
Brief summary
Amblyopia, a developmental abnormality that impairs spatial vision, is a major cause of vision loss, resulting in reduced visual acuity and reduced sensitivity to contrast. This study uses psychophysical measures to study neural plasticity in both adults and children with amblyopia.
Detailed description
Amblyopia, a developmental abnormality that impairs spatial vision, is a major cause of vision loss, resulting in reduced visual acuity and reduced sensitivity to contrast. Our previous findings (see CITATIONS) show that the adult amblyopic brain is still plastic and malleable, suggesting that active approach is potential useful in treating amblyopia. The goal of this project is to assess the limits and mechanisms of neural plasticity in both normal and amblyopic spatial vision. This study uses psychophysical measures to study neural plasticity in both adults and children with amblyopia. Research participants will be asked to practice a visual discrimination task (perceptual learning) or to play video games with the amblyopic eye for a period of time. A range of visual functions will be monitored during the course of treatment.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALPerceptual learning
Research participants will be asked to practice a visual discrimination task (e.g. position acuity, contrast sensitivity, stereoacuity etc) in our laboratory for a period of time (2 hrs/day, 5 days/week).
BEHAVIORALVideo Games
Research participants will be asked to play off-the-shelf video games in our laboratory for a period of time (2 hrs/day, 5 days/week).
BEHAVIORALOcclusion therapy
Research participants will be required to cover the good eye during the day in order to push the brain to use the amblyopic eye (2 hrs/day, 5 days/week for 2-4 weeks).
Sponsors
National Eye Institute (NEI)
University of California, Berkeley
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
5 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* adults and children (\>5 years old) with normal vision or amblyopia * amblyopia: interocular VA difference of at least 0.1 logMAR
Exclusion criteria
* any ocular pathological conditions, nystagmus
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Amblyopic vision | 9 months | Improvement in amblyopic vision : visual acuity and stereoacuity |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Spatial vision | 9 months | Improvement in spatial vision (eg. contrast sensitivity, positional acuity and spatial attention) |
| Temporal vision | 9 months | Improvement in temporal processing and temporal vision |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed