Visual Perceptual Learning Induces Long-Lasting Recovery of Visual Acuity, Visual Depth Perception Abilities and Binocular Matching in Adult Amblyopic Rats

Abstract

An abnormal visual experience early in life, caused by strabismus, unequal refractive power of the eyes, or eye occlusion, is a major cause of amblyopia (lazy eye), a highly diffused neurodevelopmental disorder severely affecting visual acuity and stereopsis abilities. Current treatments for amblyopia, based on a penalization of the fellow eye, are only effective when applied during the juvenile critical period of primary visual cortex plasticity, resulting mostly ineffective at older ages. Here, we developed a new paradigm of operant visual perceptual learning performed under conditions of conventional (binocular) vision in adult amblyopic rats. We report that visual perceptual learning induced a marked and long-lasting recovery of visual acuity, visual depth perception abilities and binocular matching of orientation preference, and we provide a link between the last two parameters.

Expression of early growth responsive gene-1 in the lateral geniculate body of kittens with amblyopia caused by monocular form deprivation

“…The development of visual neural system and the alterations in the plasticity are closely related to the occurrence and development of amblyopia, and the basic basis of amblyopia treatment has also been closely linked to the change of synaptic plasticity in the sensitive period during the visual development. [5][6][7][8] However, the development of human visual system and the change of plasticity have been related to actions of variety of different proteins, neurotransmitter, and genes. 9,10 Early growth response gene 1 (Egr-1), 11 also called ZENK (Zif268, Egr-1, NGFI-A and Krox-24), is a transcription factor, which can directly regulate the expression of other genes, but can also interact with other important transcription factors.…”