NEURAL PLASTICITY IN ADULTS WITH AMBLYOPIA

Amblyopia is a neuronal abnormality of vision that is often considered irreversible in adults. We found strong and significant improvement o f Vernier acuity in human adults with naturally occurring amblyopia fo llowing practice. Learning was strongest at the trained orientation an d did not transfer to are untrained task (detection), hut it did trans fer partially to the untrained de (primarily at the trained orientatio n). We conclude that this perceptual learning reflects alterations in early neural processes that are localized beyond the site of convergen ce of the two eyes, Our results suggest a significant degree of plasti city in the visual system of adults with amblyopia.