An Active Approach to Treat Amblyopia: Video Game Play

University of California (UC), Berkeley

Status: Completed

Conditions: Amblyopia

Treatments: Behavioral: Crossover (Occlusion therapy + Video Game); Behavioral: Video Game; Behavioral: Perceptual learning

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT01223716

CPHS#2003-11-83

R01EY001728 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

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 adults with amblyopia.

Full 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 amblyopic spatial vision. This study uses psychophysical measures to study neural plasticity in adults with amblyopia. Research participants will be asked 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.

Enrollment: 20 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 5 to 75 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adults with amblyopia (Age >15 years)
• Amblyopia: interocular visual acuity difference of at least 0.1 logMAR
• All forms of amblyopia: Strabismic, anisometropic, refractive, deprivative, meridional amblyopia

Exclusion criteria

• Any ocular pathological conditions (eg macula abnormalities, glaucoma), nystagmus

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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20 participants in 3 patient groups

Perceptual learning

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Perceptual learning

Video Game

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Video Game

Occlusion Therapy

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Crossover (Occlusion therapy + Video Game)