The pattern of learned visual improvements in adult amblyopia

Purpose. Although amblyopia is diagnosed in terms of a monocular letter acuity loss, individuals typically present with deficits on a wide range of spatial tasks. Many of these deficits can be collapsed along two basic visual dimensions (visual acuity and contrast sensitivity) that together account...

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Main Authors: Astle, Andrew T., Webb, Ben S., McGraw, Paul V.
Format: Article
Published: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2296/
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author Astle, Andrew T.
Webb, Ben S.
McGraw, Paul V.
author_facet Astle, Andrew T.
Webb, Ben S.
McGraw, Paul V.
author_sort Astle, Andrew T.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Purpose. Although amblyopia is diagnosed in terms of a monocular letter acuity loss, individuals typically present with deficits on a wide range of spatial tasks. Many of these deficits can be collapsed along two basic visual dimensions (visual acuity and contrast sensitivity) that together account for most of the variability in performance of the amblyopic visual system. In this study, this space was exploited, to target the main deficits and fully characterize the pattern of learned visual improvements in adult amblyopic subjects. Methods. Twenty-six amblyopic subjects (mean age, 39 ±12 years) were trained on one of four tasks, categorized as either visual acuity (letter or grating acuity) or contrast sensitivity (letter or grating contrast) tasks. Performance was measured on all tasks before and after training, to quantify learning along each dimension and generalization to the other dimension. Performance in 35 visually normal subjects (mean, age 24 ± 5 years) was used to establish normal variation in visual performance along each dimension, against which the learned improvements in amblyopic subjects was compared. Results. Training on the contrast sensitivity tasks produced substantial within-task learning and generalization to measures of visual acuity. The learned improvements in performance after training on the letter acuity task were also substantial, but did not generalize to contrast sensitivity. Conclusions. Mapping the pattern of learning onto the known deficit space for amblyopia enabled the identification of tasks and stimulus configurations that optimized learning, guiding further development of learning-based interventions in this clinical group.
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spelling nottingham-22962020-05-04T16:31:17Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2296/ The pattern of learned visual improvements in adult amblyopia Astle, Andrew T. Webb, Ben S. McGraw, Paul V. Purpose. Although amblyopia is diagnosed in terms of a monocular letter acuity loss, individuals typically present with deficits on a wide range of spatial tasks. Many of these deficits can be collapsed along two basic visual dimensions (visual acuity and contrast sensitivity) that together account for most of the variability in performance of the amblyopic visual system. In this study, this space was exploited, to target the main deficits and fully characterize the pattern of learned visual improvements in adult amblyopic subjects. Methods. Twenty-six amblyopic subjects (mean age, 39 ±12 years) were trained on one of four tasks, categorized as either visual acuity (letter or grating acuity) or contrast sensitivity (letter or grating contrast) tasks. Performance was measured on all tasks before and after training, to quantify learning along each dimension and generalization to the other dimension. Performance in 35 visually normal subjects (mean, age 24 ± 5 years) was used to establish normal variation in visual performance along each dimension, against which the learned improvements in amblyopic subjects was compared. Results. Training on the contrast sensitivity tasks produced substantial within-task learning and generalization to measures of visual acuity. The learned improvements in performance after training on the letter acuity task were also substantial, but did not generalize to contrast sensitivity. Conclusions. Mapping the pattern of learning onto the known deficit space for amblyopia enabled the identification of tasks and stimulus configurations that optimized learning, guiding further development of learning-based interventions in this clinical group. Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2011-09-13 Article PeerReviewed Astle, Andrew T., Webb, Ben S. and McGraw, Paul V. (2011) The pattern of learned visual improvements in adult amblyopia. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 52 (10). pp. 7195-7204. ISSN 0146-0404 Eye Movements Strabismus Amblyopia Neuro-Ophthalmology http://www.iovs.org/content/52/10/7195.short doi:10.1167/iovs.11-7584 doi:10.1167/iovs.11-7584
spellingShingle Eye Movements
Strabismus
Amblyopia
Neuro-Ophthalmology
Astle, Andrew T.
Webb, Ben S.
McGraw, Paul V.
The pattern of learned visual improvements in adult amblyopia
title The pattern of learned visual improvements in adult amblyopia
title_full The pattern of learned visual improvements in adult amblyopia
title_fullStr The pattern of learned visual improvements in adult amblyopia
title_full_unstemmed The pattern of learned visual improvements in adult amblyopia
title_short The pattern of learned visual improvements in adult amblyopia
title_sort pattern of learned visual improvements in adult amblyopia
topic Eye Movements
Strabismus
Amblyopia
Neuro-Ophthalmology
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2296/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2296/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2296/