Ocular Dominance Plasticity: A Mini-Review

Seung Hyun Min Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Seung Hyun Min, Email sammin95@gmail.comAbstract: Ocular dominance plasticity, the ability of the brain to change sensory eye balance, has traditionally been belie...

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Main Author: Min SH
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Dove Medical Press 2025-06-01
Series:Eye and Brain
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Online Access:https://www.dovepress.com/ocular-dominance-plasticity-a-mini-review-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-EB
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author Min SH
author_facet Min SH
author_sort Min SH
collection DOAJ
description Seung Hyun Min Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Seung Hyun Min, Email sammin95@gmail.comAbstract: Ocular dominance plasticity, the ability of the brain to change sensory eye balance, has traditionally been believed to be extremely limited in adult visual cortex. However, recent studies on short-term monocular deprivation (MD) demonstrate that its presence is prevalent in adult humans, as short-term MD is capable of significantly shifting ocular dominance in favor of the previously deprived eye. Thus, findings over the last 15 years highlight that short-term MD can be a promising alternative treatment for amblyopia, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by binocular imbalance. Conventionally, amblyopia has been treated with patching therapy, which shows limited effectiveness in restoring binocularity of adults and is associated with poor compliance rate and high psychosocial distress. Thus, it is an opportune time to explore how short-term MD can be utilized as an alternative treatment option for restoring amblyopic vision, especially individuals who do not respond robustly to standard treatment. This review provides an overview of foundational studies on ocular dominance plasticity in both visually intact and impaired observers. It also evaluates the potential of short-term MD as a treatment for amblyopia and suggests its future research directions, including the integration of multimodal therapeutic strategies that include short-term MD.Keywords: ocular dominance plasticity, binocular vision, amblyopia
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publishDate 2025-06-01
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series Eye and Brain
spelling doaj-art-e9a5c01aa3e2412b82a2ef44a5a46e602025-08-20T03:27:46ZengDove Medical PressEye and Brain1179-27442025-06-01Volume 17Issue 13748103764Ocular Dominance Plasticity: A Mini-ReviewMin SH0PsychologySeung Hyun Min Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Seung Hyun Min, Email sammin95@gmail.comAbstract: Ocular dominance plasticity, the ability of the brain to change sensory eye balance, has traditionally been believed to be extremely limited in adult visual cortex. However, recent studies on short-term monocular deprivation (MD) demonstrate that its presence is prevalent in adult humans, as short-term MD is capable of significantly shifting ocular dominance in favor of the previously deprived eye. Thus, findings over the last 15 years highlight that short-term MD can be a promising alternative treatment for amblyopia, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by binocular imbalance. Conventionally, amblyopia has been treated with patching therapy, which shows limited effectiveness in restoring binocularity of adults and is associated with poor compliance rate and high psychosocial distress. Thus, it is an opportune time to explore how short-term MD can be utilized as an alternative treatment option for restoring amblyopic vision, especially individuals who do not respond robustly to standard treatment. This review provides an overview of foundational studies on ocular dominance plasticity in both visually intact and impaired observers. It also evaluates the potential of short-term MD as a treatment for amblyopia and suggests its future research directions, including the integration of multimodal therapeutic strategies that include short-term MD.Keywords: ocular dominance plasticity, binocular vision, amblyopiahttps://www.dovepress.com/ocular-dominance-plasticity-a-mini-review-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-EBocular dominance plasticitybinocular visionamblyopia
spellingShingle Min SH
Ocular Dominance Plasticity: A Mini-Review
Eye and Brain
ocular dominance plasticity
binocular vision
amblyopia
title Ocular Dominance Plasticity: A Mini-Review
title_full Ocular Dominance Plasticity: A Mini-Review
title_fullStr Ocular Dominance Plasticity: A Mini-Review
title_full_unstemmed Ocular Dominance Plasticity: A Mini-Review
title_short Ocular Dominance Plasticity: A Mini-Review
title_sort ocular dominance plasticity a mini review
topic ocular dominance plasticity
binocular vision
amblyopia
url https://www.dovepress.com/ocular-dominance-plasticity-a-mini-review-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-EB
work_keys_str_mv AT minsh oculardominanceplasticityaminireview