Researchers have identified a small molecule that treats animal models of aged related macular degeneration and retinopathy of prematurity by preventing the overgrowth of blood vessels that are characteristic of these two retinal diseases.
Dry eyes, an incorrect eyeglasses prescription, and early cataracts are three very common causes of poor night vision.
"It's not everyday that one newly discovers parts of the human body," says Roy S. Chuck, MD, PhD, Chairman Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Some people with glaucoma-related binocular (both eyes) vision loss can pass a standard driving test by adopting increased visual scanning behavior, reports a study in the October issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
Nighttime hunters like cats and owls, benefit from their big round eyes that let in plenty of light, but humans have more limited abilities to see in the dark.
Could looking at the eyes provide a new way of studying how anesthesia affects the developing brain? The retinas of immature mice exposed to one widely used general anesthetic show evidence of "programmed cell death," or apoptosis, reports a study in Anesthesia & Analgesia.
Gene therapy preserved vision in a study involving dogs with naturally occurring, late-stage retinitis pigmentosa, according to research funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The findings contribute to the groundwork needed to move gene therapy forward into clinical trials for people with the blinding eye disorder, for which there is currently no cure.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMRD) could be treated by transplanting photoreceptors produced by the directed differentiation of stem cells, thanks to findings published today by Professor Gilbert Bernier .
The brain uses similar computations to calculate the direction and speed of objects in motion whether they are perceived visually or through the sense of touch.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Washington report new research that sheds light on how the retina sets its own biological rhythm using a novel light-sensitive pigment, called neuropsin, found in nerve cells at the back of the eye.
Monkeys perceive visual illusions in the same way great apes and humans see them, according to researchers at Georgia State University.
People with a genetic predisposition for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) significantly increased their odds of developing the blinding eye disorder if they had a history of heavy smoking and consistently did not exercise or eat enough fruits and vegetables, according to an observational study of women funded by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.
The addition of a daily outdoor activity class at school for three years for children in Guangzhou, China, resulted in a reduction in the rate of myopia (nearsightedness, the ability to see close objects more clearly than distant objects), according to a study in the September 15 issue of JAMA.
A project to build a wearable robotic device at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock could help millions of visually impaired people.
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have elucidated a genetic interaction that may prove key to the development and progression of glaucoma, a blinding neurodegenerative disease that affects tens of millions of people worldwide and is a leading cause of irreversible blindness.
A follow-up study has shown that these peripheral lesions, which are not detected by traditional eye imaging, correlate very closely with the loss of retinal blood flow called retinal “non-perfusion” caused by loss of small blood vessels or capillaries.
Following the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa that took the lives of more than 11,200 people in the region, the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, has deployed a team of clinicians and technical experts to Monrovia, Liberia to investigate the long-term effects of Ebola on the eye.
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Vision researchers in Boston have published the second paper of a study designed to determine if a driver who suffers from loss of central vision is able to detect pedestrians in a timely manner when driving. Central visual field loss, a scotoma or blind area in central vision, is found most commonly in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Patients with AMD may drive provided their visual acuity at least meets the requirements for a restricted license. However, the size and location of the blind area are usually not considered when making licensing decisions. The purpose of the study was to evaluate how much these blind areas delayed responses to pedestrian hazards in the safe environment of a driving simulator.
A new study has found that the occurrence of advanced forms of a diabetic eye disease remains low among children living with diabetes, regardless of how long they have had the disease or their ability to keep blood sugar levels controlled. Researchers are therefore recommending that most children with type 1 diabetes delay annual diabetic retinopathy screenings until age 15, or 5 years after their diabetes diagnosis, whichever occurs later. Their findings were published online today in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology
Vision researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered a gene that causes myopia, but only in people who spend a lot of time in childhood reading or doing other “nearwork.”
When we move our head, the whole visual world moves across our eyes. Yet we can still make out a bee buzzing by or a hawk flying overhead, thanks to unique cells in the eye called object motion sensors. A new study on mice helps explain how these cells do their job, and may bring scientists closer to understanding how complex circuits are formed throughout the nervous system. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, and was published online in Nature.
Women who are deficient in vitamin D and have a specific high-risk genotype are 6.7 times more likely to develop AMD than women with sufficient vitamin D status and no high risk genotype.
Investigators at the Joslin Diabetes Center now have shown that eyes with diabetic retinal lesions predominantly in peripheral areas of the retina that are seen in UWF images but not in traditional retinal photographs show surprisingly higher risks of progressing to advanced stages of vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy.
Research may lead to reevaluation of the current understanding of information flow and neural circuit maturation in the visual system.
Do you have problems with dry eyes? If so, you're not alone—it's one of the most common reasons for patient visits to eye care professionals. Recent years have seen significant progress in management of patients with dry eyes, according to the September special issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
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A brief period of postnatal visual deprivation, when early in life, drives a rewiring of the brain areas involved in visual pr
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By early childhood, the sight regions of a blind person’s brain respond to sound, especially spoken language, a Johns Hopkins University neuroscientist has found
The inflammatory eye disorder autoimmune uveitis occurs when a person’s immune system goes awry, attacking proteins in the eye. What spurs this response is a mystery, but now a National Eye Institute study on mice suggests that bacteria in the gut may provide a kind of training ground for immune cells to attack the eye.
Tracking specific structural changes in the eye may provide new measures of risk for, and progression of schizophrenia, according to a literature review published by researchers at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai and Rutgers University.
A new study may have unlocked understanding of a mysterious part of the brain — with implications for neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s. The results, published in Translational Vision Science & Technology (TVST), open up new areas of research in the pursuit of neuroprotective therapies
Eye injections of the drug Avastin, used to treat retinal diseases, bring no greater risk of endophthalmitis, a potentially blinding eye infection, than injections with the much more expensive drug Lucentis made by the same company, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Their findings are published today in JAMA Ophthalmology.
Scientists have identified a pathway that leads to the formation of atypical blood vessels that can cause blindness in people with age-related macular degeneration. The research, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, sheds light on one of the leading causes of blindness in industrialized countries and offers potential targets for treating the disease.
$1.2 million initiative will ask leading scientists to address complex aspects of degraded visual processing with the goal of expanding key knowledge, developing new treatment approaches, and generating technology solutions to enhance vision for those with some remaining sight.
Children who sleep in unventilated rooms with cooking fires are at greater risk for severe trachoma, a leading cause of preventable blindness in developing countries, according to the findings of a recent study conducted in Tanzania. The study was supported by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.
A new University of Washington study concludes that while important advancements have been made in sight recovery technologies, the vision provided by those devices may be very different from what scientists and patients had previously assumed.
Researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Schepens Eye Research Institute have reconstructed an ancient virus that is highly effective at delivering gene therapies to the liver, muscle, and retina. This discovery, published July 30 in Cell Reports, could potentially be used to design gene therapies that are not only safer and more potent than therapies currently available, but may also help a greater number of patients.
Eyes with central vision loss adapt by developing a new fixation point in a different part of the retina, called the preferred retinal location (PRL). Now for the first time, a new method makes it possible to identify PRLs in both eyes simultaneously, reports a study in the August issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
As the school year approaches and begins, many parents may start to hear their children complain about headaches.
Vision researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School (HMS) Department of Ophthalmology have taken a first step in solving a vexing problem: how to preserve photoreceptor cells and avoid irreversible vision loss in patients following retinal detachment.
Since 2007, clinical trials using gene therapy have resulted in often-dramatic sight restoration for dozens of children and adults who were otherwise doomed to blindness. Now, researchers have found evidence that this sight restoration leads to strengthening of visual pathways in the brain.
By growing two types of stem cells in a “3-D culture” and measuring their ability to produce retinal cells, a team lead by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital researchers has found one cell type to be better at producing retinal cells. The research not only reveals which stem cell type might be better for treating retinal degeneration, but it also demonstrates a standardized method for quantifying the effectiveness of different stem cells for such therapies.
Spider-like cells inside the brain, spinal cord and eye hunt for invaders, capturing and then devouring them. These cells, called microglia, often play a beneficial role by helping to clear trash and protect the central nervous system against infection. But a new study by researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) shows that they also accelerate damage wrought by blinding eye disorders, such as retinitis pigmentosa. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health.
Physicists have found that intense visual input forces the brain into a brief moment of chaos, but the visual cortex spontaneously returns the brain to its optimal function.
Researchers have discovered a thick band of microtubules in certain neurons in the retina that they believe acts as a transport road for mitochondria that help provide energy required for visual processing.
Environmental factors like pool and ocean water seem harmless, but they can actually affect eye health. UAB experts break down how to stay safe this season.
More Americans are using soft contact lenses—especially daily disposable lenses—and taking advantage of new designs targeting vision problems that were difficult to correct with previous contact lenses, reports the July issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
Our brains track moving objects by applying one of the algorithms your phone’s GPS uses, according to researchers at the University of Rochester. This same algorithm also explains why we are fooled by several motion-related optical illusions, including the sudden “break” of baseball’s well known “curveball illusion.”
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