An Active Approach to Treat Amblyopia: Perceptual Learning and Video Games

November 10, 2022 updated by: University of California, Berkeley

Improving Spatial and Temporal Vision in Adult and Juvenile Amblyopia

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.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

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.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

50

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Berkeley, California, United States, 94720
        • Minor Hall 486, School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

5 years to 75 years (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

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

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Perceptual learning
Patients will be asked to practice a range of visual discrimination tasks for a period of time (each therapy session:1-2 hrs, 4-5 sessions/wk for ~1-6 months).
Behavioral: Perceptual 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).
Other Names:
  • vision therapy
  • vision training
Experimental: Occlusion therapy
The fellow sound will be covered with a standard eye patch for a period of time (1-2 hrs/day, 4-5 days/wk for ~1-3 months). The idea is to push the brain to use the weaker amblyopic eye.
Behavioral: Occlusion 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).
Other Names:
  • vision therapy
  • vision training,
Experimental: Video game
Patients will be asked to play videogames for a period of time (each therapy session:1-2 hrs, 4-5 sessions/wk for ~1-6 months).
Behavioral: Video 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).
Other Names:
  • vision therapy
  • vision training

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Amblyopic vision
Time Frame: 9 months
Improvement in amblyopic vision : visual acuity and stereoacuity
9 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Spatial vision
Time Frame: 9 months
Improvement in spatial vision (eg. contrast sensitivity, positional acuity and spatial attention)
9 months
Temporal vision
Time Frame: 9 months
Improvement in temporal processing and temporal vision
9 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of California, Berkeley

Collaborators

National Eye Institute (NEI)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 31, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

October 31, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 3, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 3, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

May 4, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 14, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 10, 2022

Last Verified

November 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R01EY001728 (NIH)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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