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Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have for the first time identified stem cells in the region of the optic nerve, which transmits signals from the eye to the brain. The finding presents a new theory on why the most common form of glaucoma may develop and potential for new therapies.

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The inflammatory molecule interleukin-17A (IL-17A) triggers immune cells that in turn reduce IL-17A’s pro-inflammatory activity, according to a study by National Eye Institute (NEI) researchers.

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The inflammatory molecule interleukin-17A (IL-17A) triggers immune cells that in turn reduce IL-17A’s pro-inflammatory activity, according to a study by National Eye Institute (NEI) researchers.

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Cerebral (cortical) visual impairment (CVI) is a condition that interferes with the ability of the brain to process information from the eyes, and it has become a leading cause of visual impairment in the U.S.

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Cerebral (cortical) visual impairment (CVI) is a condition that interferes with the ability of the brain to process information from the eyes, and it has become a leading cause of visual impairment in the U.S.

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New findings reframe the traditional view of face blindness as a disorder arising strictly from deficits in visual perception of facial features Findings suggest prosopagnosia may be a more complex disorder rooted in multiple deficits Findings can help inform the design of tools to improve face recognition in those with the condition

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Scientists use nanoparticle-delivered gene therapy to limit blinding retinal disease in rodents.

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On July 8, the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR) in conjunction with the Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society (TFOS) will host the Fifth Annual Dry Eye Awareness Month Congressional Briefing entitled How Lifestyle Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic Can Affect Vision.

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Researchers seeking to unravel the mysteries of how our amazingly complex brains do what they do, often start with the eye. An extension of neural tissue connecting the eye and brain, the retina, the light-sensing tissue at the back of the eye has long been a model for scientists to explore how the brain works.

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Researchers seeking to unravel the mysteries of how our amazingly complex brains do what they do, often start with the eye. An extension of neural tissue connecting the eye and brain, the retina, the light-sensing tissue at the back of the eye has long been a model for scientists to explore how the brain works.

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The National Eye Institute (NEI) has established an office to accelerate progress in regenerative medicine for eye disease and vision disorders.

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The National Eye Institute (NEI) has established an office to accelerate progress in regenerative medicine for eye disease and vision disorders.

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New NEI-supported research provides insight into the eye conditions associated with Marfan syndrome, where weakened zonule fibers cause vision problems.

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The National Eye Institute (NEI) has funded development of a handheld pediatric vision scanner that easily and accurately screens for amblyopia, or “lazy eye.” The device could facilitate earlier identification of children who need vision-saving treatment when therapy is likely to be more effective. It also could reduce unnecessary referrals to ophthalmologists.

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The National Eye Institute (NEI) has funded development of a handheld pediatric vision scanner that easily and accurately screens for amblyopia, or “lazy eye.” The device could facilitate earlier identification of children who need vision-saving treatment when therapy is likely to be more effective. It also could reduce unnecessary referrals to ophthalmologists.

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Babies born prematurely who require treatment to prevent blindness from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) could be treated with a dose of Avastin (bevacizumab) that is a fraction of the dose commonly used for ROP currently. Results from the dose-finding study were published April 23 in JAMA Ophthalmology. The study was conducted by the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) and supported by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

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National Eye Institute (NEI) researchers profiling epigenomic changes in light-sensing mouse photoreceptors have a clearer picture of how age-related eye diseases may be linked to age-related changes in the regulation of gene expression. The findings, published online April 21 in Cell Reports, suggest that the epigenome could be targeted as a therapeutic strategy to prevent leading causes of vision loss, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

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Researchers have discovered a technique for directly reprogramming skin cells into light-sensing rod photoreceptors used for vision, sidestepping the need for stem cells. The lab-made rods enabled blind mice to detect light after the cells were transplanted into the animals’ eyes.

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According to a recent analysis of data from two major eye disease studies, adherence to the Mediterranean diet – high in vegetables, whole grains, fish, and olive oil – correlates with higher cognitive function.

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Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have defined a crucial window of time that mice need to key in on visual events.

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Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have defined a crucial window of time that mice need to key in on visual events.

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A protein that normally deposits mineralized calcium in tooth enamel may also be responsible for calcium deposits in the back of the eye in people with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study from researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI).

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Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have successfully turned back the biological hands of time, coaxing adult human cells in the laboratory to revert to a primitive state, and unlocking their potential to replace and repair damage to blood vessels in the retina caused by diabetes. The findings from this experimental study, they say, advance regenerative medicine techniques aimed at reversing the course of diabetic retinopathy and other blinding eye diseases.

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An artificial intelligence (AI) device that has been fast-tracked for approval by the Food and Drug Administration may help identify newborns at risk for aggressive posterior retinopathy of prematurity (AP-ROP). AP-ROP is the most severe form of ROP and can be difficult to diagnose in time to save vision.

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Promising intracellular protein-based therapeutics have been of limited use due to the difficulty of delivery into diseased cells. Now bioengineers have developed nanoparticles that can deliver these therapeutics to their targets—avoiding degradation and toxic interactions with healthy tissues.

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With $9.7 million in funding from the National Eye Institute, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago will study the impact of chronic eye disease among Latinos.

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In a recent study using mice, lab-grown human retinal cells and patient samples, Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they found evidence of a new pathway that may contribute to degeneration of the light sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The findings, they conclude, bring scientists a step closer to developing new drugs for a central vision-destroying complication of diabetes that affects an estimated 750,000 Americans.

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Researchers at the National Eye Institute used artificial intelligence to evaluate stem cell-derived “patches” of retinal pigment epithelium tissue for implanting into the eyes of patients with age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness.

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Results from a clinical trial funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) show that while vision therapy can successfully treat convergence insufficiency (CI) in children, it fails to improve their reading test scores.

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Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are the first to identify the presence of a specific type of antibody, called anti-citrullinated protein autoantibodies, or ACPAs, in human tear fluid. They are also the first to demonstrate that patients with dry eye disease experienced reduced signs and symptoms of the condition in response to a new eye drop treatment -- made from pooled human antibodies -- that targets ACPAs.

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Methotrexate and the more expensive mycophenolate mofetil performed similarly in a head-to-head clinical trial that compared the two drugs for treating noninfectious uveitis

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Anyone who has ever sensed that a person is sick simply by looking at their face has experienced the wealth of information conveyed by face color. A new study by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, provides evidence that the human brain’s visual system is especially sensitive to the color of faces compared to the colors of other objects or things. Study results were published today in Nature Communications.

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Children can keep full visual perception – the ability to process and understand visual information – after brain surgery for severe epilepsy, according to a study funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health. A new report by Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, researchers from a study of children who had undergone epilepsy surgery suggests that the lasting effects on visual perception can be minimal, even among children who lost tissue in the brain’s visual centers.

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Participants in a phase I/II clinical trial of a new enzyme-based treatment for severe dry eye disease experienced reduced signs of disease and discomfort, according to a paper in Translational Vision Science and Technology.The trial compared eye drops containing a biosynthetic form of an enzyme called DNase with eye drops without the enzyme.

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Eating a calcium-rich diet or taking calcium supplements does not appear to increase the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to the findings of a study by scientists at the National Eye Institute (NEI). AMD is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness among people age 65 and older in the United States. The study findings are published in JAMA Ophthalmology.

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Cells of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) form unique patterns that can be used to track changes in this important layer of tissue in the back of the eye, researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have found. Using a combination of adaptive optics imaging and a fluorescent dye, the researchers used the RPE patterns to track individual cells in healthy volunteers and people with retinal disease. The new finding could provide a way to study the progression and treatment of blinding diseases that affect the RPE.

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A small pilot clinical study at the National Eye Institute (NEI) suggests that the drug nitisinone increases melanin production in some people with oculocutaneous albinism type 1B (OCA-1B), a rare genetic disease that causes pale skin and hair and poor vision. Increased melanin could help protect people with the condition against the sun’s UV rays and promote the development of normal vision.

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A wearable brain-based device called NGoggle that incorporates virtual reality could help improve glaucoma diagnosis and prevent vision loss. Duke University researchers funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) have launched a clinical study testing the device in hopes that it could decrease the burden of glaucoma, a major cause of blindness in the U.S.

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A signaling pathway controlled by transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) could be involved in the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

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Using a novel patient-specific stem cell-based therapy, researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) prevented blindness in animal models of geographic atrophy, the advanced “dry” form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is a leading cause of vision loss among people age 65 and older. The protocols established by the animal study, published January 16 in Science Translational Medicine (STM), set the stage for a first-in-human clinical trial testing the therapy in people with geographic atrophy, for which there is currently no treatment.

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Researchers at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, have created a noninvasive technology that detects when nerve cells fire based on changes in shape. The method could be used to observe nerve activity in light-accessible parts of the body, such as the eye, which would allow physicians to quantitatively monitor visual function at the cellular level.

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The National Eye Institute (NEI) awarded $25,000 to a team led by Wei Liu, Ph.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, for demonstrating progress toward the development of a living model of the human retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The prize money was awarded for the first of two phases of the NEI 3-D Retina Organoid Challenge 2020 (3-D ROC 2020), a national initiative to generate human retina organoids from stem cells. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health.

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Scientists at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have found that neurons in the superior colliculus, an ancient midbrain structure found in all vertebrates, are key players in allowing us to detect visual objects and events.

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By combining two imaging modalities—adaptive optics and angiography—investigators at the National Eye Institute (NEI) can see live neurons, epithelial cells, and blood vessels deep in the eye’s light-sensing retina. Resolving these tissues and cells in the outermost region of the retina in such unprecedented detail promises to transform the detection and treatment of diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness among the elderly.

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Shortly after birth when the world is a blur, babies may be learning to identify patterns. According to a new study funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), the initial phase of blurry vision may be fundamental to the development of normal visual processing.

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Dr. Okihide Hikosaka, senior investigator at the National Eye Institute (NEI) Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, is a recipient of the 2018 Gruber Prize in Neuroscience.

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Delivery of corticosteroids directly into the eye is more effective than injections adjacent to the eye, according to results from a comparative clinical trial of macular edema in patients with noninfectious uveitis.

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During aging, loss of vision and cognition often coincide. In a new study, researchers funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) and National Institute on Aging (NIA) have found that vision loss precedes loss of mental capacity. The findings suggest that maintaining eye health could help protect cognition in older adults.