Testris Helps Treat Lazy Eye, Video Game Creates Adjustment

If you like video games, then you'll love this study!

According to new research, the classic game Tetris has been shown to not only help alleviate some symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, but apparently, it's also good at treating lazy eyes.

Usually amblyopia, more commonly known as a lazy eye, is treated by something like "patching"--where doctors put a patch over the stronger, dominant eye and the weaker, wandering eye has to adjust on its own. It works through plasticity: the ability of certain parts of the brain to take over the work of other parts. A team led by McGill University researcher Robert Hess wanted to explore different ways for treating the estimated 3 percent of people with the condition worldwide.

Intesad of mixing the work of the two separate eyes, the team devised a way of forcing them to miraculously work together. Researchers had people with amblyopia play Tetris with head-mounted goggles on. As this took place, the goggles separated what the two eyes saw so that one group only saw falling blocks, and the other group only saw the blocks on the ground. After testing 18 adults over two weeks--nine with the two-eye goggle system and nine with patching--the group with the goggle system improved their weaker eyes considerably compared to the patched group, and even improved their depth perception.

Who ever said staring at a screen will ruin your vision?