title: Transcranial direct current stimulation improves visual acuity in amblyopic Long-Evans rats.
abstract: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has proved to increase brain cortex plasticity and different models of brain damage. In this work, we have analyzed the effects of tDCS in an experimental model of amblyopia using Long-Evans rats. Animals were monocularly deprived between 12 and 75 postnatal days and visual cortex contralateral to the deprived eye was stimulated using anodal tDCS during 8days (20min/day). The effects of tDCS treatment on the visual function were evaluated by using the optomotor reflex of the animals as a measure of visual acuity. Results obtained indicate that monocular occlusion during the critical period lead to a reduction of visual acuity in monocular and binocular conditions. Stimulation with anodal tDCS produced a nearly full recovery in visual acuity of amblyopic animals. However, same stimulation protocol in healthy control animals produced a decrease of binocular visual acuity. These data indicate that tDCS can reverse the effects of monocular deprivation on visual acuity, although it is essential to use this technique in a controlled way due to the possible adverse effects on healthy individuals.
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Almeria, Departamento de Psicología, Ctra. Sacramento, 04120, La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain. Electronic address: serkast@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Castaño-Castaño
authors.affiliation: Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Grupo de investigación en Neuroingeniería Biomédica, Av. de la Universidad S/N, Elche, Alicante, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garcia-Moll
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Almeria, Departamento de Psicología, Ctra. Sacramento, 04120, La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morales-Navas
authors.affiliation: Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Unidad de Neuroprótesis y Rehabilitacián Visual, Av. de la Universidad S/N, Elche, Alicante, Spain; Biomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), C/Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Almeria, Departamento de Psicología, Ctra. Sacramento, 04120, La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Santed
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Almeria, Departamento de Psicología, Ctra. Sacramento, 04120, La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nieto-Escamez
mesh_terms: D000550:Amblyopia / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D007839:Functional Laterality; D008297:Male; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012683:Sensory Deprivation; D065908:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; D014792:Visual Acuity
keywords: Amblyopia; Optomotor reflex; Visual acuity; Visual deprivation; tDCS