State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan, Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510060, China.
Neurotherapeutics. 2013 Oct;10(4):831-9. doi: 10.1007/s13311-013-0200-y.
Amblyopia is a neurodevelopmental disorder of vision caused by abnormal visual experience during early childhood that is often considered to be untreatable in adulthood. Recently, it has been shown that a novel dichoptic videogame-based treatment for amblyopia can improve visual function in adult patients, at least in part, by reducing inhibition of inputs from the amblyopic eye to the visual cortex. Non-invasive anodal transcranial direct current stimulation has been shown to reduce the activity of inhibitory cortical interneurons when applied to the primary motor or visual cortex. In this double-blind, sham-controlled cross-over study we tested the hypothesis that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the visual cortex would enhance the therapeutic effects of dichoptic videogame-based treatment. A homogeneous group of 16 young adults (mean age 22.1 ± 1.1 years) with amblyopia were studied to compare the effect of dichoptic treatment alone and dichoptic treatment combined with visual cortex direct current stimulation on measures of binocular (stereopsis) and monocular (visual acuity) visual function. The combined treatment led to greater improvements in stereoacuity than dichoptic treatment alone, indicating that direct current stimulation of the visual cortex boosts the efficacy of dichoptic videogame-based treatment. This intervention warrants further evaluation as a novel therapeutic approach for adults with amblyopia.
弱视是一种神经发育性视觉障碍，由儿童早期异常视觉体验引起，通常被认为在成年后无法治疗。最近，研究表明，一种新的基于双眼视视频游戏的弱视治疗方法可以改善成年患者的视觉功能，至少部分原因是减少了来自弱视眼的输入对视觉皮层的抑制。当应用于初级运动或视觉皮层时，非侵入性的经颅直流电刺激已被证明可以减少抑制性皮质中间神经元的活动。在这项双盲、假刺激对照交叉研究中，我们测试了假设，即视觉皮层的阳极经颅直流电刺激会增强基于双眼视视频游戏的治疗效果。对一组 16 名年轻成年人（平均年龄 22.1 ± 1.1 岁）进行了研究，以比较单独进行双眼治疗和双眼治疗与视觉皮层直流电刺激相结合对双眼（立体视）和单眼（视力）视觉功能的影响。联合治疗在立体视锐度上的改善大于单独双眼治疗，表明视觉皮层的直流电刺激增强了基于双眼视视频游戏的治疗效果。这种干预措施值得进一步评估，作为一种治疗弱视的新方法。
