Reading and eye-hand coordination in amblyopic children

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R00 · $71,415 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Program Director/Principal Investigator (Last, First, Middle): Kelly, Krista, Rose PROJECT SUMMARY (See instructions): Amblyopia is the most common cause of monocular vision impairment among children, affecting 2 or 3 of every 100 children. Amblyopia commonly results when there is binocularly discordant input associated with strabismus or anisometropia during visual development. Sensory and ocular motor deficits are well-established in the amblyopia literature. The functional consequences of amblyopia on the developing visuocognitive and visuomotor systems are less known. Initial studies show slow reading and poor fine motor ability in amblyopic children and adults, even when they have one eye with normal visual acuity under binocular viewing conditions. Yet, causes of these impairments remain poorly understood. Strabismic and anisometropic children, with or without amblyopia, between the ages of 4-12 years will be enrolled and compared to a group of normal control children. Four projects will be conducted in these groups of children. Eye movements during reading will be evaluated using the EyeLink 1000 binocular eye tracking system, and temporal eye-hand coordination during visually-guided reach-to-point and during visually-guided precision grasp will be evaluated using the EyeLink 1000 and the LEAP Motion capture device. These studies will determine how sensory deficits (visual acuity, stereoacuity, suppression), ocular motor dysfunction (gaze instability, abnormal saccades), and deficits in visual planning and guidance of hand movements affect reading, reaching, and grasping in amblyopic children under binocular conditions. Data from the proposed experiments will determine the consequences of abnormal visual experience during development on the visuocognitive and visuomotor systems, provide information on sensory and motor integration during maturation, and aid in determining more effective amblyopia treatments and academic accommodations that allow amblyopic children to thrive. RELEVANCE (See instructions): Amblyopic children read slowly and have fine motor impairments. This project will evaluate factors associated with these deficits. These data will determine the effects of abnormal visual experience on developing visuocognitive and visuomotor systems, and will guide the design of school accommodations and interventions to promote academic success,and potentially open a new avenue for amblyopia treatment to surmount obstacles to proficient reading and adept visuomotor skills. PROJECT/PERFORMANCE SITE(S) (if additional space is needed, use Project/Performance Site Format Page) Project/Performance Site Primary Location Organizational Name: Retina Foundation of the Southwest DUNS: 127069466 Street 1: 9600 North Central Expressway Street 2: Suite #200 City: Dallas County: USA State: Texas Province: Country: Zip/Postal Code: 75206 Project/Performance Site Congressional Districts: TX-032 Additional Project/Performance Site Locatio...

Key facts

NIH application ID
10078433
Project number
3R00EY028224-04S1
Recipient
RETINA FOUNDATION OF THE SOUTHWEST
Principal Investigator
Krista Rose Kelly
Activity code
R00
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2020
Award amount
$71,415
Award type
3
Project period
2019-09-01 → 2022-08-31