title: Treatment of amblyopia in the adult: insights from a new rodent model of visual perceptual learning.
abstract: Amblyopia is the most common form of impairment of visual function affecting one eye, with a prevalence of about 1-5% of the total world population. Amblyopia usually derives from conditions of early functional imbalance between the two eyes, owing to anisometropia, strabismus, or congenital cataract, and results in a pronounced reduction of visual acuity and severe deficits in contrast sensitivity and stereopsis. It is widely accepted that, due to a lack of sufficient plasticity in the adult brain, amblyopia becomes untreatable after the closure of the critical period in the primary visual cortex. However, recent results obtained both in animal models and in clinical trials have challenged this view, unmasking a previously unsuspected potential for promoting recovery even in adulthood. In this context, non invasive procedures based on visual perceptual learning, i.e., the improvement in visual performance on a variety of simple visual tasks following practice, emerge as particularly promising to rescue discrimination abilities in adult amblyopic subjects. This review will survey recent work regarding the impact of visual perceptual learning on amblyopia, with a special focus on a new experimental model of perceptual learning in the amblyopic rat.
authors: Department of Medicine, Institute of Neuroscience CNR, National Research Council (CNR) Pisa, Italy.
authors: Joyce
authors: J
authors: Bonaccorsi
authors: Department of Medicine, Institute of Neuroscience CNR, National Research Council (CNR) Pisa, Italy ; Department of Psychology, Florence University Florence, Italy.
authors: Nicoletta
authors: N
authors: Berardi
authors: Department of Medicine, Institute of Neuroscience CNR, National Research Council (CNR) Pisa, Italy.
authors: Alessandro
authors: A
authors: Sale
mesh_terms: D000550:Amblyopia / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: GABAergic inhibition; amblyopia; environmental enrichment; perceptual learning; visual acuity