A study shows how, through adequate stimulation, amblyopia in adults can improve through adequate stimulation of neuronal plasticity.
The project 'Imaging function and dysfunction of neuronal circuits in the visual cortex' conducted by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Amsterdam), funded by the EU, seeks to obtain a comprehensive picture of neural interactions that underpin the function (and dysfunction) of the visual cortex. With this overview what is sought is to understand to improve the treatment of amblyopia and other disorders of the Central Nervous System.
It is based on the study of neuronal plasticity: How does the brain respond to sensory stimuli, in this case visual? Experiments were carried out with mice genetically modified to express the Ca2+ indicator, to which photons and dyes adhere, allowing its visualization in vivo by means of functional recording techniques of the brain; The idea at this point is to analyze the neural response to natural or artificial visual stimuli. It concludes like this:
- That sensory experience determines the "firing" properties of individual neurons as well as their relationship to structural changes.
- The experience is related to changes in excitatory/inhibitory synaptic structures: changes in synaptic structures are configured.
Thus, we already have a neural substrate for amblyopia and an explanation of the synaptic origin of visual information, as well as a series of indications on where the solution can be to alleviate/eliminate it. Binocular exposure according to this study leads to recovery from amblyopia through perceptual learning. Molecular and cellular mechanisms that restrict neuronal plasticity were analyzed in order to find the sensory elements capable of stimulating it and thus activating "sleeping" synaptic channels.
What they found was that the loss of VA induced by monocular vision is likely to be restored by stimulating plasticity in visual domain areas of the visual cortex. And the most interesting thing is that this area can also be stimulated in adults.
Thus, through the sensory stimulation of these areas, neurons of the amblyopic eye will be activated in coexistence with the dominant eye. The study itself highlights that, through treatments involving binocular training, amblyopia has a good margin for improvement in adults.
Dicopt The development of its solutions is based on this neuronal plasticity: we focus on the neuronal response to visual stimuli to build that synaptic network in coexistence with the dominant eye as much as possible. In some phases of therapy a temporary occlusion will be necessary: one of the advantages of Dicopt is that the occlusion time is drastically reduced.