Man: 3-D movie changed my sight for the better

Trees once looked like green panels for Bruce Bridgeman. He'd have to move his head to gauge the relative closeness of objects.

For most of his life, he had poor depth perception. His eyes pointed outward and did not allow him to see, in stereo, a single image with both eyes.

But in February 2012, something changed when he went to a movie theater with his wife. He put on a pair of 3-D glasses to watch the film "Hugo" and, to his amazement, the characters and scenery in this film jumped out at him in greater stereo vision than he had experienced before.

What's more, after returning the glasses and leaving the theater, Bridgeman's perception of the real world was enhanced as well. A lamppost jumped out from the background, and the trees, cars and people looked somehow more vivid. This was the world with depth. Bridgeman was "euphoric."

"Suddenly, things began to jump out at me," said Bridgeman, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

The effect has stuck around since he saw the movie 16 months ago

Comments: My friend and colleaue, Dr. Paul Harris, was interviewed for this article. Read the whole article by clicking the title above. DM.

Computer use and letter knowledge in pre-school children: A population-based study

Castles, Anne et al. 2013. “Computer use and letter knowledge in pre-school children: A population-based study.” Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 49:193-198.

.....as part of the Early Language in Victoria Study, a community cohort of 1539 four-year-old children was tested on letter knowledge as well as on non-verbal intelligence, oral language, articulation and phonological awareness. ....Greater computer use in pre-school children appears to have a positive association with emerging literacy development. .....

Efficacy of split hours part-time patching versus continuous hours part-time patching for treatment of anisometropic amblyopia in children: a pilot study.

This was....a prospective, interventional, non-randomised, comparative pilot study involving children between 4 and 11 years of age with anisometropic amblyopia who were treated with either continuous wear (Group A) or split hours part-time patching (Group B) ....Both patching regimens lead to significant and comparable improvement in BCVA in anisometropic amblyopia up to 6 months of follow-up.....

Comments: Once again they forget that amblyopia is a binocular vision problem and not just a visual acuity problem. You should do vision therapy to enforce the binocular aspect of amblyopia. DM

Floaters: Videos Show You what these Are

Patients ask me all the time about "floaters" in their vision. These videos show very nicely that floaters are located towards the back of the eye and "float" within the vitreous. Most floaters are notice when looking against a bright blue sky or a lightly colored wall. They appear like "Muscae volitantes" (Latin for flying flies). Most floaters are nothing more than a nuisance, but this is not always the case. If you have floaters, especially if you see many all of a sudden see an eye doctor immediately! DM

Social Robots as Embedded Reinforcers of Social Behavior in Children with Autism

Kim, Elizabeth S. et al. 2013. “Social Robots as Embedded Reinforcers of Social Behavior in Children with Autism.” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 43(5):1038-49.

....Our findings suggest that social robots may be developed into useful tools for social skills and communication therapies, specifically by embedding social interaction into intrinsic reinforcers and motivators.....

Exposure To Traffic-Related Air Pollution In Early Years Linked To Hyperactivity

Exposure To Traffic-Related Air Pollution In Early Years Linked To Hyperactivity

Early-life exposure to traffic-related air pollution was significantly associated with higher hyperactivity scores at age 7, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.


The research is detailed in a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a peer-reviewed open access journal published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, an institute within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). .....

Binocular coordination of saccades during reading in children with clinically assessed poor vergence capabilities

Binocular coordination of saccades during reading in children with clinically assessed poor vergence capabilities

Prior studies have pointed toward a link between the saccadic and vergence systems, coordinating binocular saccadic movements. Recent studies have shown that vergence deficits in children induce poor binocular coordination during saccades, but none of them have studied ocular motility in children during a daily task such as reading. .....After orthoptic training, six patients out of the first 12 examined came back for a second oculomotor test. All showed a significant improvement of their binocular saccade coordination. We suggest that the larger disconjugacy during reading observed in patients before training could be due to poor vergence as initially assessed by orthoptic examination. Such findings support the hypothesis of a tight relationship between the saccadic and vergence systems for controlling the binocular coordination of saccades. The improvement reported after orthoptic training is in line with the hypothesis of an adaptative interaction on a premotor level between the saccadic and vergence system.

Mathematical and Verbal Skills Are Early Indicators of Future Success

Mathematical and Verbal Skills Are Early Indicators of Future Success

...Researchers have found a significant correlation between children with profound mathematical and verbal reasoning skills to future success. Children, who displayed early indicators of extraordinary intellectual promise by the age of thirteen, ultimately went on to make outstanding contributions in their respective fields, according to a recent study.....

A systematic video analysis of National Hockey League (NHL) concussions, part II: how concussions occur in the NHL

A systematic video analysis of National Hockey League (NHL) concussions, part II: how concussions occur in the NHL

....The predominant mechanism of concussion was consistently characterized by player-to-opponent contact, typically directed to the head by the shoulder, elbow or gloves. Also, several important characteristics were apparent: (1) contact was often to the lateral aspect of the head; (2) the player who suffered a concussion was often not in possession of the puck and (3) no penalty was called on the play.....
     

Measles surge in Britain years after vaccine/autism scare

...More than a decade ago, British parents refused to give measles shots to at least a million children because of a vaccine scare that raised the specter of autism. Now, health officials are scrambling to catch up and stop a growing epidemic of the contagious disease.

This year, the U.K. has had more than 1,200 cases of measles, after a record number of nearly 2,000 cases last year. The country once recorded only several dozen cases every year. It now ranks second in Europe, behind only Romania....

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/20/measles-surge-in-britain-years-after-vaccineautism-scare/#ixzz2UVPTrL9v