Elsevier

Vision Research

Volume 152, November 2018, Pages 74-83
Vision Research

The effects of monocular training on binocular functions in anisometropic amblyopia

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2017.02.008Get rights and content
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Abstract

Intensive monocular perceptual learning can improve visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and vernier acuity in the amblyopic eye in adults with amblyopia. It is however not clear how much monocular training can enhance binocular visual functions. In the current study, we aimed to evaluate effects of monocular training on a variety of binocular functions. Nineteen anisometropic amblyopes (18.5 ± 1.26 yrs, mean ± s.e.) were trained in a grating contrast detection task near each individual’s cutoff spatial frequency for 6–10 days (630 trials/day). Visual acuity, stereoacuity, monocular and binocular contrast sensitivity functions (CSF), binocular phase combination and binocular rivalry were tested before and after training. Although monocular training can improve visual acuity and contrast sensitivity and eye dominance of the amblyopic eye, the magnitudes of improvements did not correlate with each other; the impact of monocular training on binocular phase combination was not significant. The results strongly suggest that structured monocular and binocular training is needed to fully recover deficient visual functions in anisometropic amblyopia.

Keywords

Anisometropic amblyopia
Perceptual learning
Visual acuity
Stereoacuity
Contrast sensitivity functions
Binocular phase
Combination
Binocular rivalry

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