WEDNESDAY, March 5 (HealthDay News) — People with amblyopia have broader bandwidth of perceptual learning in their visual system than people with normal vision, suggesting greater plasticity and wider generalization in this population, according to research released online March 3 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Chang-Bing Huang, of the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui, China, and colleagues analyzed data from 10 teenagers and adults with unilateral anisometropic amblyopia and 21 with normal or corrected normal vision; the latter participants were put into two control groups. The researchers provided training at a single spatial frequency and measured sensitivity to sinewave gratings of various spatial frequencies before and after the training.

For amblyopic participants, training improved visual acuities in affected and fellow eyes, but not in the control groups. For selected members in the amblyopic group and one control group who had significant performance improvement at the training frequency, the bandwidth of perceptual learning was very different: the average full bandwidth was 4.04±0.63 octaves in the amblyopic group and only 1.40±0.30 octaves for the normal observers.

“We suggest re-evaluating the conventional wisdom for treating amblyopes: that passing the critical period results in a fully (though erroneously) developed visual system that is immune to therapeutic modifications. The current study, together with several others, demonstrates that the adult amblyopic visual system remains remarkably plastic, and perceptual learning could lead to substantial improvements of spatial vision in adult amblyopia,” the authors conclude.

By Eleanor Skale Lowenstein (parent)

I suspected that my daughter Shari was a perfectionist when she was around 5 years old.  Not that perfectionism is necessarily a bad thing; I just didn’t like watching the frustration level arise in her every time she sat at the kitchen table and tried to write or do a craft project.  Sometimes her frustration would escalate to the point that she would hit her forehead a couple of times with her fist, and cry out “I can’t get it right!” Interestingly, these were self-initiated projects, with no external pressure to perform. As a parent, I was concerned for her physical and emotional well being. I hated seeing her so upset.  Reassuring her that her work was all right never had any effect; she insisted that it wasn’t.

Because I suspected a possible visual problem with her older sister, Joanna, I made an appointment at the Vision Development Center. My friend, who was a specialist in education, had recommended them.  While I was there, both children had routine visual screenings.  I had been correct to suspect a problem with Joanna’s vision, and she underwent vision therapy for a short period of time and later had eye surgery to complete the correction.

The surprise was that Shari also had a problem.  Although she didn’t have significant physiological vision problems, her visual-perceptual abilities were only at the 10th percentile. Now I could understand.  She had a conception in her mind about what she wanted to produce, and she couldn’t produce it!  That would be exceedingly frustrating, indeed.

She underwent therapy and her perception improved to the 40th percentile, which was considered sufficient for her to function successfully. I also noticed that, thankfully, Shari no longer got frustrated when doing close, detailed work and no longer hit herself on the head.

Well, my little girl has grown up.  To my surprise, a few art and design courses taken in college and an enjoyment of doing crafts has led to her having her own business.  She has been creating hand painted glassware, gift items and baby clothes, which she sells to stores and directly to consumers. (You can check this out at her website: www.shariz.com, if interested.)

The best thing is that she is happy.  She left the frustration behind at the Vision Development Center.

At the Vision Development Center we take pride in our reputation for seeing each child as a unique individual with special talents and gifts.  We work with many children who face a variety of challenges from Developmental Delays to Learning Disabilities, ADD/ADHD etc.  All of these children have expressed how much they enjoy their time here because they are appreciated for their individuality and not viewed as a “diagnosis”.  Unfortunately, all too often this is not a common experience for many of them in their daily lives.  It is truly a joy to see these children explore and expand their abilities as they develop the skills whose absence had made efficient learning and adequate attention so difficult for them.

For more information, additional locations, or to make an appointment at the Vision Development Center to have your child evaluated, phone 610-783-1331

By Kathy Caruso (parent)

My oldest daughter, Anya was adopted from Russia when she was almost 6 years old. She is a great kid who came with a few challenges. She had been diagnosed with a language delay in Russia, and although, she learned to speak English very quickly, she often mixed up words and couldn’t learn to read at all.

By age 9 she still could not read. I believed that she had a vision problem because sometimes her eyes didn’t look straight. Since, I had a vision problem as a child, which was fixed by vision therapy (VT), I tried to find someone to provide Anya with Vision Therapy.

Finally we discovered the Vision Development Center. Anya began Vision Therapy and within the first month to 6 weeks jumped from a kindergarten level to the first grade reading level. Anya was finally able to read!

By the time she finished the treatment regimen, she was reading on the 2^nd grade level. She went from hating school to loving it. Her teachers said she could now focus better.

Anya’s sister Zoya, who was also adopted from Russia, has also benefited from Vision Therapy at the Vision Development Center. At age 3 ½ her eyes crossed and she held everything upside down. She even watched TV upside down.

We wasted no time and started Vision Therapy when she turned 4. Today she has just turned 6 and is one of the best readers in her Kindergarten class. She is reading on the first grade level.

Anya, in addition, had learning disabilities. Her memory was very poor and she could not remember any math facts. She processed information so slowly, that at age10, her performance was that of a 4-year-old.

So, we began PACE (an intense 12-week, one-on-one processing and cognitive enhancement program) which was perfect for the summer months. She loved this program and we could see results immediately. Her reading improved even more, and she could now memorize math facts.

By the end of the PACE program, Anya was in a new school, which placed her according to her tested ability. She tested at the high 4^th grade level in math, 3^rd grade in reading and at the 5^th grade level on every other subject. She had started the previous year at the kindergarten level!

Anya’s IQ was also tested before and after PACE. She gained about 20 IQ points after completing the PACE program.

I believe that the lives of both of my children have been changed for the better as a result of vision therapy. In addition, my oldest daughter benefited from the PACE program, which is also available at the Vision Development Center in King of Prussia.

I don’t know what would have happened to my two girls without Vision Therapy. We had tried everything else to help Anya, but Vision Therapy and PACE worked the best. As a teacher and a psychotherapist, I do not hesitate to recommend Vision Therapy or PACE for children who are having learning difficulties.

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For more information, or to make an appointment, phone 610-783-1331.

Executive function and attention. The ability to make effective decisions requires integrative and sustained attention. The ability to search memory, to link current sensation to immediate context and connect this experience to past memories, is the quintessential attentional task.^[3] Planning and working memory are essential components of executive function.^[1,2] The capacity to do what we intend requires sustain attention, even in an environment of distractions and through phases of weakening interest or mounting fatigue.^[29]

The cognitive aspects of executive function are primarily located in the anterior frontal cortex, whereas spatial organization occurs more dorsally; verbal memory and organization are localized more internally. Anticipatory, or expectant waiting, aspects of executive function are managed in the cingulate gyrus. The ability to interpret visual experience — an important component in executive learning — is processed in the posterior visual cortex.

For information about how our PACE program is specifically designed to increase attention and executive function visit out PACE site here.