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Adults with lazy eye can improve
December 21, 2005New treatment offers promise for previously incurable condition
Young adults with amblyopia, or lazy eye, can improve substantially and retain their gains under a new treatment developed by researchers at USC and three Chinese universities.
A lazy eye in children appears normal but does not see properly, even with corrective lenses. If untreated, the eye will not develop fully, resulting in permanent loss of vision.
Amblyopia has been considered incurable in children older than eight. The new study, published online by Vision Research, documented a 70 percent improvement in eye chart performance in 19-year-old subjects. The average one-year retention rate was 90 percent.
The researchers trained the subjects in detection of a small "gabor" (pronounced ga-BOR), a set of three contrasting dark and light ovals that neurophysiologists have identified as a basic unit of visual perception.
Surprisingly, improvement in this abstract exercise generalized to a marked improvement in standard vision tests. The seven subjects improved their overall visual acuity 25 to 216 percent, with an average of 70 percent.
Another 10 subjects in a slightly different training program showed an average improvement of 46 percent. Eight subjects in a control group showed no improvement.
"Detecting simple visual patterns turned out to be quite useful for improving visual acuity for amblyopia patients, typically measured by eye chart reading," said co-author Zhong-Lin Lu, professor of psychology in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and co-director of the Dornsife Neuroscience Imaging Center.
"You train on one of these gabors, you can generalize this to a whole bunch of different gabors, and also generalize this to an eye chart. That makes it [the training] useful," Lu said.
Normal subjects who received the same training did not show a general improvement in vision. A possible reason may be that a little stimulus goes a long way toward awakening the amblyopic eye, Lu said.
Amblyopia is sometimes due to a misaligned eye that can be reoriented surgically. But in many cases the eye is perfectly healthy, Lu said, who added, "The problem is actually in the brain. This is a neural deficit."
Next, the researchers plan to test their method on patients at a clinic in China. Other plans include developing a home training program.
"It could become a clinical procedure," Lu said.
University of Southern California
Amblyopia has been considered incurable in children older than eight. The new study, published online by Vision Research, documented a 70 percent improvement in eye chart performance in 19-year-old subjects. The average one-year retention rate was 90 percent.
The researchers trained the subjects in detection of a small "gabor" (pronounced ga-BOR), a set of three contrasting dark and light ovals that neurophysiologists have identified as a basic unit of visual perception.
Surprisingly, improvement in this abstract exercise generalized to a marked improvement in standard vision tests. The seven subjects improved their overall visual acuity 25 to 216 percent, with an average of 70 percent.
Another 10 subjects in a slightly different training program showed an average improvement of 46 percent. Eight subjects in a control group showed no improvement.
"Detecting simple visual patterns turned out to be quite useful for improving visual acuity for amblyopia patients, typically measured by eye chart reading," said co-author Zhong-Lin Lu, professor of psychology in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and co-director of the Dornsife Neuroscience Imaging Center.
"You train on one of these gabors, you can generalize this to a whole bunch of different gabors, and also generalize this to an eye chart. That makes it [the training] useful," Lu said.
Normal subjects who received the same training did not show a general improvement in vision. A possible reason may be that a little stimulus goes a long way toward awakening the amblyopic eye, Lu said.
Amblyopia is sometimes due to a misaligned eye that can be reoriented surgically. But in many cases the eye is perfectly healthy, Lu said, who added, "The problem is actually in the brain. This is a neural deficit."
Next, the researchers plan to test their method on patients at a clinic in China. Other plans include developing a home training program.
"It could become a clinical procedure," Lu said.
University of Southern California
Lazy Eye Current Events and Lazy Eye News RSSTreating Lazy Eyes with a Joystick
Four percent of all children suffer from amblyopia, better known as "lazy eye syndrome."
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USC study -- largest of its kind -- finds older children more likely to develop vision disorders
In a study of more than 6,000 Los Angeles-area children - the largest study of its kind - researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) found that both strabismus (commonly known as cross-eyed or wall-eyed) and amblyopia (often referred to as lazy eye) were more prevalent in older children than in younger children.
Early treatment of children with bilateral amblyopia essential, according to multisite study
When a child is farsighted or has astigmatism or has both conditions in both eyes, bilateral amblyopia may develop. In contrast to single-eye amblyopia or "lazy eye," where one eye presents an unclear image to the brain, bilateral amblyopia affects both eyes and is less common.
No need for children with lazy eye to wear patches all day
Children with amblyopia (commonly known as lazy eye) need only wear an eye patch for three to four hours a day for 12 weeks to improve vision, say researchers in a study published on bmj.com today.
Fine motor skills, social acceptance lower in children with 'lazy eye'
A recent study evaluating the fine motor skills and perceived self esteem of children with amblyopia (or "lazy eye") compared with age-matched children will be presented during the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2007 Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Botulism study could lead to new vaccines and treatments to counter bioterrorist attacks
Of all the weapons in the bioterrorist arsenal, none is as potent as botulinum neurotoxin, which causes botulism-a potentially fatal disease with symptoms that include severe paralysis of the limbs and respiratory muscles.
Leicester breakthrough in eye disease
Researchers at the University of Leicester have identified for the first time a gene which causes a distressing eye condition. Their discovery, as reported in the journal Nature Genetics, is expected to lead to better treatments for the condition.
Study Highlights Need For UK Childhood Screening For Amblyopia (pp 597, 621)
Authors of a study in this week's issue of THE LANCET highlight how the risk of visual loss in the normal eye for individuals with one lazy eye (amblyopia) is greater than previously thought, strengthening the need for effective screening programmes to detect amblyopia in early childhood. Monocular amblyopia occurs in at least 1% of individuals worldwide, causing decreased visual acuity as a result of abnormal early visual experience. Screening for amblyopia in early childhood is done in many countries to ensure that affected children are detected and treated within the critical period (in early childhood), and also achieve a level of vision in their lazy eye that would be useful should they
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