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Video Games an Effective Tool in Treating Amblyopia

By james_fudge

A new study conducted by the Helen Willis Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley and the School of Optometry finds that playing off-the-shelf video games can improve the vision of adults with amblyopia, or lazy eye. Lead author Dr. Roger Li (research optometrist at the School of Optometry) and the Helen Willis Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley, found that study participants experienced some improvement in "visual activity and 3-D depth perception" after spending 40 hours playing video games.

This is particularly good news because, according to specialist in the field, there are few options available for adults with amblyopia. 

Amblyopia is a leading cause of permanent visual impairment in children, affecting two to three out every 100 children. While the brain disorder part of amblyopia can be treated by putting a patch over the "good eye" to force the brain to use the "weaker eye' (called occlusion therapy), this therapy doesn't work very well for adults. That is where video games come in to play - pun intended. Read More

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Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on September 23, 2010 (boomark / email).