Toward the Understanding of Stereopsis Recovery and its Application for an Amblyopia Treatment

Project Information

STEREOAMB

Grant agreement ID: 327905

Project closed

Start date 1 March 2014

End date 29 February 2016

Funded under

• Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Total cost € 182 902,20

EU contribution € 182 902,20

Coordinated by

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
France

Final Report Summary - STEREOAMB (Toward the Understanding of Stereopsis Recovery and its Application for an Amblyopia Treatment)

Publishable summary of the progress of work toward objectives, achievements, attainment of any milestones/deliverables
Summary of the project objectives
In this report we summarize the research activity performed by Dr. Adrien Chopin, the recipient of the grant, during the outgoing phase of the Marie-Curie IOF at the Department of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, under the supervision of Pr. Dennis Levi and Pr. Michael Silver.
The work was defined in 3 main aims, 4 primary training objectives, 2 complimentary objectives and two outreach tasks, as follows:
Main aims:
- Aim 1: identifying the neural correlates of stereoscopic vision using functional fMRI
- Aim 2: designing and testing a video game using stereoscopic vision to help amblyopic participants
- Aim 3: improving the stereopsis recovery procedure using different monocular depth cues
Primary training objectives:
(1) Providing to the candidate a deeper understanding of perception and cognition in general and of binocular vision and perceptual learning in particular
(2) Acquiring an expertise in fMRI data acquisition and fMRI data analysis
(3) Hands-on training with clinical patients
(4) Developing leadership skills and broadening network of international collaborations
Complementary training objectives:
(1) Developing the candidate’s understanding of how to manage a scientific career (writing applications, writing efficient publications, realistic goal-setting, increasing presentation skills)
(2) Expanding knowledge of the English language
Outreach objectives:
(1) Wikipedia entries
(2) Exhibition on cognitive science
Summary of the work performed since the beginning of the project
For Aims 1 and 2, twelve out of the fourteen sub-objectives have been conducted fully and two will be finished in the following months (thanks to extension time granted from the labs). The accomplished work includes carrying out a successful pilot training study for stereopsis recovery in anisometropic amblyopes before the real scanning study, designing the full training and scanning study, collecting most of the data for the main studies and analysing the patterns of brain activity. Aim 3 was partially addressed and a new collaboration experiment was carried out (and published).
All the primary and complimentary training objectives that were defined in the project proposal have been fully achieved, including hands-on with patients, English learning, training with fMRI scanning techniques, and developing management, writing and presentation skills. The outreach objectives were reached through Wikipedia entries and diffusion projects toward the general public.
Summary of the main results/deliverables
We have shown that the stereo-recovery procedure is efficient for anisometropic amblyopes. The duration of the training was successfully decreased from 30-60h to 10-20h. A list of video game specifications was delivered. We also validated several useful computerized tests (fusion-diplopia test, stereoblindness tests). We designed an advanced motion correction for fMRI analysis and automatized analysis pipelines. Several students have been trained or mentored. Two articles have been published, one submitted, one close to be submitted and two more articles are in preparation. One collaborative project was presented at the main international vision conference. Knowledge was disseminated actively to non-specialized audience by the mean of an interview, two articles toward biologists, one diffusion project toward the general public and several Wikipedia entries.
Expected final results and their potential impact and use (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)
The reduction of the duration of the stereo-recovery training from 30-60h to 10-20h and its extension to anisometropic patients paves the road to a clinical procedure usable individually for stereoblind amblyopes (1-2.5% of the population). On the long term, the amblyopic people may benefit from the binocular vision recovery by improving their amblyopia.
In the next months, the brain sites for stereopsis recovery should be known, which open the possibility for trying brain stimulation (tDCS) during training. Brain stimulation is known to safely increase the learning rate by 50% and, given its low cost, is suitable for a wide use.