Grant: Operating Grant

Lazy eye (amblyopia) is a common developmental disorder in which vision is impaired in one eye and cannot be corrected with glasses. This condition causes preventable loss of vision in more people than do all eye diseases and trauma combined. An eye turn or an optical problem can cause amblyopia to develop in an otherwise healthy eye. If these problems are detected and treated when a child is young enough, amblyopia can often be prevented or reversed by patching the unaffected fellow eye; however, not all children respond well to this patching therapy. Treatment failures may occur because patching treats only some of the problems in amblyopia. Most amblyopia treatment and research focuses on problems with form perception, such as visual acuity (the smallest character that can be seen on an eye chart). In contrast, our research focuses on problems with motion perception and eye gaze control. We suggest, based on our previous research, that patching will not improve vision in a child with either of these problems. We will use customized computer games to measure several aspects of motion perception, visual acuity and eye gaze control in children (age 4 to 7 years) who are about to start patching therapy for amblyopia and in children with normal vision. Each child will be tested again at 6 months and at 12 months following the initial test. This will allow us to identify specific visual problems that do not improve with patching. Uncorrected amblyopia may lead to limited career options and potential near-blindness if the fellow eye becomes diseased or is injured. Additionally, there is growing evidence for the negative effects of patching on other aspects of a child's wellbeing, such as self-esteem. It is, therefore, important to identify children who are unlikely to show improved vision with patching treatment. These children may benefit from alternative therapies (currently under investigation) designed to improve motion perception or eye gaze control.