Tetris Can Be Used To Fix Lazy Eye

Not all video games promote laziness. According to an article by Jonathan Weiss published on Medicaldaily.com, the game Tetris can be used to fix lazy eye or Amblyopia.

Lazy Eye, or Amblyopia, is a common eye condition where one eye doesn't move in coordination with the other and can lead to vision loss in children.  This happens because of the brain's inability to process the uncoordinated information so the stronger eye takes over and the weaker eye slowly loses out.  Current treatment options include surgery or simply covering up the stronger eye, forcing the weaker eye to work, which has limited success.

A research study out of McGill University has shown that the game Tetris makes the eyes work in a complimentary fashion and distributes different information between the two eyes.  Essentially, this forces both eyes to cooperate, rather than have one dominant over the other.

“The key to improving vision for adults, who currently have no other treatment options, was to set up conditions that would enable the two eyes to cooperate for the first time in a given task" says Dr. Robert Hess. "Forcing the eyes to work together, we believed, would improve vision in the lazy eye."

The current research is based on tests conducted on adults with some form of lazy eye, amblyopia.  However a trial to test the suitability of the treatment in children will be undertaken later this year.

For more on the original study published in the journal Current Biology click here. 

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