Perceptual Learning Based on the Lateral Masking Paradigm in Anisometropic Amblyopia With or Without a Patching History

Overview

Journal Transl Vis Sci Technol

Specialties Biomedical Engineering
Ophthalmology

Date 2024 Jan 18

PMID 38236190

Authors

Yusong Zhou

Yunsi He

Lei Feng

Yu Jia

Qingqing Ye

Zixuan Xu

Yijing Zhuang

Ying Yao

Rengang Jiang

Xiaolan Chen

Yangfei Pang

Wentong Yu

Yun Wen

Junpeng Yuan

Jinrong Li

Jing Liu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: Perceptual learning (PL) has shown promising performance in restoring visual function in adolescent amblyopes. We retrospectively compared the effect of a well-accepted PL paradigm on patients with anisometropic amblyopia with or without a patching therapy history (patching therapy [PT] group versus no patching therapy [NPT] group).

Methods: Eighteen PT and 13 NPT patients with anisometropic amblyopia underwent monocular PL for 3 months. During training, patients practiced a Gabor detection task following the lateral masking paradigm by applying a temporal two-alternative forced choice procedure with the amblyopic eye. Monocular contrast sensitivity functions (CSF), visual acuity, interocular differences in visual function metrics, and stereoacuity were compared before and after training.

Results: PL improved the visual acuity of the amblyopia eyes by 0.5 lines on average in the PT group and 1.5 lines in the NPT group. A significant reduction in the interocular difference in visual acuity was observed in the NPT group (P < 0.01) but not in the PT group (P = 0.05). Regarding CSF metrics, the area under the log CSF and cutoff in the amblyopic eyes of the NPT groups increased after training (P < 0.05). In addition, the interocular differences of the CSF metrics (P < 0.05) in the NPT group were significantly reduced. However, in the PT group, all the CSF metrics were unchanged after training. A total of 27 of 31 patients in both groups had no measurable stereopsis pretraining, and recovery after training was not significant.

Conclusions: PL based on a lateral masking training paradigm improved visual function in anisometropic amblyopia. Patients without a patching history achieved greater benefits.

Translational Relevance: PL based on a lateral masking training paradigm could be a new treatment for amblyopia.

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