Amblyopia, also known as “lazy eye,” may be improved by playing video games, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley had 20 participants with amblyopia play either an action video game involving shooting at targets, or a non-action game requiring that players construct something. Results showed that participants displayed marked improvement in visual acuity and 3-D depth perception after playing video games for 40 hours.
“This study is the first to show that video game play is useful for improving blurred vision in adults with amblyopia,” said Dr. Roger Li, lead author of the study, as quoted by Medical Xpress. “I was very surprised by this finding; I didn’t expect to see this type of improvement.”
The study is significant because while children can be treated for lazy eye though occlusion therapy, there aren’t many options for adults with the condition.
“These new findings are very encouraging because there are currently no accepted treatments for adults with amblyopia,” said Dr. Dennis Levi of US Berkeley, principal investigator of the study, as quoted by Medical Xpress. “A lot of eye doctors start closing the books on successful treatment after age 8 or so because of the widespread belief that amblyopia can only be reversed during a critical window of development in the visual cortex. If the disorder is not corrected in childhood, the damage was thought to be irreversible.”
The study is published in the journal PLoS Biology.
