Almost three percent of the world's inhabitants suffer from amblyopia. This disease is also called the "lazy eye" when one eye sees worse than the other. Weakening of visual acuity can occur for various reasons. The most popular treatment for amblyopia in the early stages of the disease involves closing a healthy eye to increase the visual load on a poorly seeing eye. This method works well with children, but is not effective in treating amblyopia in adults. Canadian scientists have found a new, more effective way to restore vision.
Researchers at McGill University in Montreal (Canada) argue that the Tetris game can help adults finally get rid of amblyopia. According to them, the puzzle game makes the eyes work together, complementing each other.
“In order to restore vision in adults who currently have few treatment options, conditions were created under which two eyes could fulfill the task assigned to them together,” says Dr. Robert Hess, author of an article published this week in a scientific journal Current Biology.
Amblyopia is associated with poor processing of visual information by the brain, which leads to the suppression of the functions of the weak eye by the strong eye. By directing the falling blocks of various geometric shapes, the patient not only enjoys playing Tetris, but also forces the brain to equally process images from two eyes.
The study involved two groups of 9 people with amblyopia. While the first group played a computer game with a healthy eye sealed, the other used video glasses that displayed a picture for each eye separately. In the latter case, the image of falling objects was displayed on one eye, and on the other - blocks of connected multi-colored figures.
Two weeks later, scientists verified the results. As it turned out, the second group showed a significant improvement in the perception by the weak eye of images, including three-dimensional ones. The results of the first group were not so impressive, but the problem was solved when the eye patch was replaced with video glasses.
Later this year, a team of researchers plans to apply a new technique for treating low vision to children.
Last month, scientists from the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa announced the creation of a polymer retina.
The article is based on materials .
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