Amblyopia is the most common cause of monocular
visual impairment. Patching, which is modestly effective, is the current treatment of
amblyopia in children. There is no clinically approved treatment for adults. The present study is a clinical trial (non-
sham controlled and non-randomized) that assessed the efficacy of
binocular training for improvement of the visual acuity in children and adults with
amblyopia. Twenty-two amblyopic subjects ranging in age from 5 to 73 (mean: 36.2) years for whom patching and/or surgical treatments did not correct their
visual impairment completed an average of 14.5 sessions of
binocular training over a period of 4 to 6 weeks. Random dot kinematograms were presented dichoptically to the two eyes and the participants' task was to identify the direction of motion of the targets. Mean visual acuity improvement was 0.34 LogMAR (range: 0.1-0.58 LogMAR) and was shown to persist 6 months following the cessation of
binocular training. Our study provides results in a large number of patients that confirm the clinical effectiveness of
binocular training as a treatment for
amblyopia in improving visual acuity in both children and adults. Moreover, this study is the first to demonstrate that the improvements in visual function were maintained for 6 months in the absence of any additional treatment.