Curr Biol. 2013 Apr 22;23(8):R309-10. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.03.004.
Almost all individuals exhibit sensory eye dominance, one neural basis of which is unequal interocular inhibition. Sensory eye dominance can impair binocular functions that depend on both excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms. We developed a 'push-pull' perceptual learning protocol that simultaneously affects the excitatory and inhibitory networks to reduce sensory eye dominance and improve stereopsis in adults with otherwise normal vision. The push-pull protocol provides a promising clinical paradigm for treating the extreme sensory eye dominance in amblyopia ('lazy eye'). The prevailing standard of care does not directly treat sensory eye dominance; instead, selected excitatory functions in the amblyopic eye are stimulated while the strong eye is patched, on the assumption that recovery of the weak eye's excitatory functions rebalances the eyes. Patching the strong eye does not directly address interocular inhibition; in contrast, the push-pull protocol by design excites the weak eye, while completely inhibiting the strong eye's perception to recalibrate the interocular balance of excitatory and inhibitory interactions. Here, we show that three adult amblyopes who trained on the push-pull protocol gained longstanding improvements in interocular balance and stereopsis. Our findings provide a proof-of-concept and evidence that push-pull learning leads to long-term plasticity.
几乎所有个体都表现出感觉眼优势，其神经基础之一是双眼抑制的不平衡。感觉眼优势会损害依赖于兴奋和抑制机制的双眼功能。我们开发了一种“推挽”感知学习方案，该方案同时影响兴奋和抑制网络，以减少具有正常视力的成年人的感觉眼优势并提高立体视。推挽方案为治疗弱视（“懒眼”）中的极端感觉眼优势提供了有前途的临床范例。主流的治疗标准并未直接针对感觉眼优势；相反，在假设弱视眼的兴奋功能恢复平衡双眼后，会刺激弱视眼中的选定兴奋功能，同时遮盖强眼。遮盖强眼并不能直接解决双眼抑制问题；相比之下，推挽方案通过设计来刺激弱眼，同时完全抑制强眼的感知，以重新校准兴奋和抑制相互作用的双眼平衡。在这里，我们发现，在推挽方案上进行训练的 3 名弱视成年人在双眼平衡和立体视方面获得了长期改善。我们的研究结果提供了概念验证和证据，表明推挽学习会导致长期的可塑性。
