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Previously published studies have reported that 150 min of short-term monocular deprivation temporarily changes perceptual eye dominance. However, the possible mechanisms underlying monocular deprivation-induced perceptual eye dominance plasticity remain unclear. Using a binocular phase and contrast co-measurement task and a multi-pathway contrast-gain control model (MCM), we studied the effect of 150 min of monocular pattern deprivation (MPD) in normal adult subjects. The perceived phase and contrast varied significantly with the interocular contrast ratio, and after MPD, the patched eye (PE) became dominant. Most importantly, we focused on the potential mechanisms of the deprivation effect. The data of an averaged subject was best fitted by a model, which assumed a monocular signal enhancement of the PE after the MPD. The present findings might have important implications for investigations of binocular vision in both normal and amblyopic populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously published studies have reported that 150 min of short-term monocular deprivation temporarily changes perceptual eye dominance. However, the possible mechanisms underlying monocular deprivation-induced perceptual eye dominance plasticity remain unclear. Using a binocular phase and contrast co-measurement task and a multi-pathway contrast-gain control model (MCM), we studied the effect of 150 min of monocular pattern deprivation (MPD) in normal adult subjects. The perceived phase and contrast varied significantly with the interocular contrast ratio, and after MPD, the patched eye (PE) became dominant. Most importantly, we focused on the potential mechanisms of the deprivation effect. The data of an averaged subject was best fitted by a model, which assumed a monocular signal enhancement of the PE after the MPD. The present findings might have important implications for investigations of binocular vision in both normal and amblyopic populations.

How to precisely quantify the binocular eye balance (i.e., the contribution that each eye makes to the binocular percept) across a range of spatial frequencies using a binocular combination task, is an important issue in both clinical and basic research. In this study, we aimed to compare the precision of a binocular orientation combination paradigm with that of the standard binocular phase combination paradigm in measuring the binocular eye balance at low to high spatial frequencies. Nine normal adults (average age: 24.6 ± 2.0 years old) participated. Subjects viewed an LED screen dichoptically with polarized glasses in a dark room. The method of constant stimuli was used to quantitatively assess the point of subjective equality (PSE), i.e., the interocular contrast ratio when two eyes are balanced in binocular combination, for stimulus spatial frequencies from 0.5 to 8 cycles/degree. Precision was quantified by the variance [i.e., standard error (SE), obtained from 100 bootstrap estimates] associated to the PSE. Using stimuli whose interocular phase difference at the edge of the gratings was matched at 45°, we found that the orientation paradigm provides more precision than the standard binocular phase combination paradigm, especially at high frequencies (Experiment 1). Such differences remained when using stimuli that had three times larger interocular phase difference (Experiment 2) or displayed at four times higher stimuli resolution (Experiment 3). Our results indicate that a binocular combination tasked based on orientation rather than phase, provides a more precise estimate of binocular eye balance in human adults at high spatial frequencies, thus allowing a binocular balance to be assessed within the spatial region where amblyopes are most defective (i.e., high spatial frequencies).

How to precisely quantify the binocular eye balance (i.e., the contribution that each eye makes to the binocular percept) across a range of spatial frequencies using a binocular combination task, is an important issue in both clinical and basic research. In this study, we aimed to compare the precision of a binocular orientation combination paradigm with that of the standard binocular phase combination paradigm in measuring the binocular eye balance at low to high spatial frequencies. Nine normal adults (average age: 24.6 ± 2.0 years old) participated. Subjects viewed an LED screen dichoptically with polarized glasses in a dark room. The method of constant stimuli was used to quantitatively assess the point of subjective equality (PSE), i.e., the interocular contrast ratio when two eyes are balanced in binocular combination, for stimulus spatial frequencies from 0.5 to 8 cycles/degree. Precision was quantified by the variance [i.e., standard error (SE), obtained from 100 bootstrap estimates] associated to the PSE. Using stimuli whose interocular phase difference at the edge of the gratings was matched at 45°, we found that the orientation paradigm provides more precision than the standard binocular phase combination paradigm, especially at high frequencies (Experiment 1). Such differences remained when using stimuli that had three times larger interocular phase difference (Experiment 2) or displayed at four times higher stimuli resolution (Experiment 3). Our results indicate that a binocular combination tasked based on orientation rather than phase, provides a more precise estimate of binocular eye balance in human adults at high spatial frequencies, thus allowing a binocular balance to be assessed within the spatial region where amblyopes are most defective (i.e., high spatial frequencies). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Action video gaming can promote neural plasticity. Short-term monocular patching drives neural plasticity in the visual system of human adults. For instance, short-term monocular patching of 0.5-5 h briefly enhances the patched eye's contribution in binocular vision (i.e., short-term ocular dominance plasticity). In this study, we investigate whether action video gaming can influence this plasticity in adults with normal vision. We measured participants' eye dominance using a binocular phase combination task before and after 2.5 h of monocular patching. Participants were asked to play action video games, watch action video game movies, or play non-action video games during the period of monocular patching. We found that participants' change of ocular dominance after monocular patching was not significantly different either for playing action video games versus watching action video game movies (Comparison 1) or for playing action video games versus playing non-action video games (Comparison 2). These results suggest that action video gaming does not either boost or eliminate short-term ocular dominance plasticity, and that the neural site for this type of plasticity might be in the early visual pathway., (Copyright © 2020 Chen et al.)