Clinical trial NCT01223716: An Active Approach to Treat Amblyopia: Video Game Play
Official title: Does Video Game Play Induce Plasticity in the Visual System of Adults With Amblyopia?
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Amblyopia
Keywords: amblyopia treatment
neural plasticity
perceptual learning
vision therapy
spatial vision
video games
occlusion therapy
Lead sponsor: University of California, Berkeley
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Eye Institute (NEI)
First posted: 2010-10-19
Enrollment: 20
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 5
Maximum age (years): 75
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Primary purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE

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 adults 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 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.

Eligibility criteria: 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

Primary outcomes:
measure: Amblyopic vision
timeFrame: 9 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Spatial vision
timeFrame: 9 months
measure: Temporal vision
timeFrame: 9 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Berkeley
country: United States
facility: Minor Hall 486, School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley
state: California
Study officials:
affiliation: School of Optometry, Univeristy of california-Berkeley
name: Roger W Li, OD, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: School of Optometry, Univerisity of California-Berkeley
name: Dennis M Levi, OD, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Li RW, Provost A, Levi DM. Extended perceptual learning results in substantial recovery of positional acuity and visual acuity in juvenile amblyopia. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2007 Nov;48(11):5046-51. doi: 10.1167/iovs.07-0324.
citation: Li RW, Young KG, Hoenig P, Levi DM. Perceptual learning improves visual performance in juvenile amblyopia. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2005 Sep;46(9):3161-8. doi: 10.1167/iovs.05-0286.
citation: Li RW, Levi DM. Characterizing the mechanisms of improvement for position discrimination in adult amblyopia. J Vis. 2004 Jun 1;4(6):476-87. doi: 10.1167/4.6.7.
citation: Chung ST, Li RW, Levi DM. Identification of contrast-defined letters benefits from perceptual learning in adults with amblyopia. Vision Res. 2006 Oct;46(22):3853-61. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2006.06.014. Epub 2006 Aug 22.
citation: Chung ST, Kumar G, Li RW, Levi DM. Characteristics of fixational eye movements in amblyopia: Limitations on fixation stability and acuity? Vision Res. 2015 Sep;114:87-99. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2015.01.016. Epub 2015 Feb 7.
citation: Li RW, Klein SA, Levi DM. Prolonged perceptual learning of positional acuity in adult amblyopia: perceptual template retuning dynamics. J Neurosci. 2008 Dec 24;28(52):14223-9. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4271-08.2008.
citation: Chung ST, Li RW, Levi DM. Learning to identify near-threshold luminance-defined and contrast-defined letters in observers with amblyopia. Vision Res. 2008 Dec;48(27):2739-50. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2008.09.009. Epub 2008 Oct 18.
citation: Levi DM, Li RW. Improving the performance of the amblyopic visual system. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2009 Feb 12;364(1515):399-407. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0203.
citation: Levi DM, Li RW. Perceptual learning as a potential treatment for amblyopia: a mini-review. Vision Res. 2009 Oct;49(21):2535-49. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2009.02.010. Epub 2009 Feb 27.
citation: Li RW, Tran TT, Craven AP, Leung TW, Chat SW, Levi DM. Sharpening coarse-to-fine stereo vision by perceptual learning: asymmetric transfer across the spatial frequency spectrum. R Soc Open Sci. 2016 Jan 20;3(1):150523. doi: 10.1098/rsos.150523. eCollection 2016 Jan.
citation: Li RW, Ngo CV, Levi DM. Relieving the attentional blink in the amblyopic brain with video games. Sci Rep. 2015 Feb 26;5:8483. doi: 10.1038/srep08483.
citation: Li RW, Ngo C, Nguyen J, Levi DM. Video-game play induces plasticity in the visual system of adults with amblyopia. PLoS Biol. 2011 Aug;9(8):e1001135. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001135. Epub 2011 Aug 30.
citation: Chung ST, Li RW, Levi DM. Learning to identify near-acuity letters, either with or without flankers, results in improved letter size and spacing limits in adults with amblyopia. PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e35829. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035829. Epub 2012 Apr 30.