Amblyopia is a common childhood eye disorder in which the brain favors vision in one eye. Current treatment involves wearing a patch over the dominant eye in order to force the brain to use the other eye. Clinical trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health have provided more concrete guidelines for wearing an eye patch: most can wear a patch for just two hours a day while the most severe cases require six hours of patch wearing (not full time as was once directed).
In the future, functional MRI technology is expected to help cure this neurologic disorder. Because recent research show that this condition may have genetic origins, future preventative therapies may be developed.
Source reference: National Institutes of Health
