Tetris Used To Correct Lazy Eye

[Gahars]

Tetris is probably the single greatest thing the USSR ever produced (Yakov Smirnoff being a close second). Leave it to the Soviets to make stacking blocks fun.

Anyway, the wildly successful puzzler has stuck around for more than two decades, and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. That's good for scientists, who have made an (if you will) eye-catching discovery.

Patching has long been used to treat a lazy eye in children, although the therapy has limited success and doesn't work at all in adults with the condition formally known as amblyopia.

Now researchers at McGill University in Montreal are testing an innovative means of improving visual function in adults with lazy eye -- a puzzle video game that forces both eyes to work together to overcome the common condition.

In a study published Monday in the journal Current Biology, the researchers compared the use of the online video game Tetris with patching, a treatment in which the "good" eye is covered for a lengthy period of time. The idea is to make the weak eye do all the visual work in the hope of strengthening its acuity.

The patients treated using Tetris showed a four-fold improvement in vision in their lazy eye compared with those who were patched, said ophthalmologist Dr. Robert Hess, director of McGill's vision research unit and principal investigator of the study.

CTV News

People have patches for a health condition, and games have patches to fix problems, and a game is being used in conjunction with a patch to treat a health condition. There's a joke in there somewhere, but... eh.

Anyway, it's always cool to see the positive applications that video games can have. Besides, this is great news for the patients - not only is this supposed to be more effective than the traditional methods, it's a great excuse to play more Tetris. I think anyone could appreciate that. (And hey, according to the article, the researchers say any game should do the trick. So if you don't enjoy rearranging falling tiles, you'll have an alternative. Also, you're a soulless bastard and should feel terrible.)

Plus, it may lead the way to more video game-related therapies. Tetris may very well be the stepping stone - or more accurately, the building block.

 

[nukeboy95]

congrats on getting front paged

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Tetris is great, whenever I go poop I always play it on my GameBoy

It's also a great way to train the brain to stack things and reorganize things to take up as little room as possible.

 

[WiiUBricker]

Does that mean that I can get rid of my glasses if I play tetris to death?

 

[Ethevion]

Ya but haven't you heard the diplomats? Games cause violence! lol

Tetris>Everything

 

[chavosaur]

I use my Tetris skills to fit things in bags when I work cashier at target~
They help a lot ^O^
They also help when I'm doing back stock~

 

[Rizsparky]

Does that mean that I can get rid of my glasses if I play tetris to death?

lol, it helped to correct a lazy eye it doesn't regenerate your eyesight

 

[Rydian]

One of my little sisters had a lazy eye growing up. She was always finding weird ways to look past the patch since using her bad eye was hard on her.

 

[xist]

Physiologically this shouldn't be possible in adults. Patching is only effective up to the early teens because of the loss of neuro plasticity in the optic system, and even then it's not great unless the amblyopic eye is caught early. Because of that, and the limited details involved, I'd write this up more as a gimmick than an amazing cure.

 

[gamefan5]

I use my Tetris skills to fit things in bags when I work cashier at target~
They help a lot ^O^
They also help when I'm doing back stock~

And I thought I was the only one doing that. XD IT'S AN ADDICTION! XD

 

[the_randomizer]

I knew that the Russians were on to something when the programmed the game, but this...correcting amblyopia....sneaky, sneaky

This is the very condition I was born with, although my eye has been "corrected" my brain still considers it to be the weaker eye, hence my right eye is the dominant. With this test, I wonder if using it could trick my brain into rewiring or strengthening the acuity in the left and eventually reverse itself. That right there is why I can't see the 3D effect. The fact adults were used in the study and had good results gives me hope that I can correct this impairment. Those sneaky Russians

 

[Taleweaver]

Interesting news.

excuse of the future: "I'm sorry. I can't come to work, boss.I have this 'lazy eye'-thing. My doctor told me I have to play video games all day. "

 

[RupeeClock]

Maybe it's time for one of those posts that's just an image, you guys like those, right?

To be honest playing Tetris probably has a lot more to offer than just training a lazy eye, although side effects may include Tetris Effect.

 

[gusmento01]

Sometime back in the 90's I went to my Psychiatrist to get a Ritalin refill rx and he told my Mother games like Tetris would help me with my ADD, it was cool because it gave my Mother a reason to buy me a game boy.

 

[TripleSMoon]

Sometime back in the 90's I went to my Psychiatrist to get a Ritalin refill rx and he told my Mother games like Tetris would help me with my ADD, it was cool because it gave my Mother a reason to buy me a game boy.

What the... how come doctors never told *MY* parents that regarding my ADD? I think they told them quite the opposite, in fact. :\

 

[PolloDiablo]

I knew that the Russians were on to something when the programmed the game, but this...correcting amblyopia....sneaky, sneaky

This is the very condition I was born with, although my eye has been "corrected" my brain still considers it to be the weaker eye, hence my right eye is the dominant. With this test, I wonder if using it could trick my brain into rewiring or strengthening the acuity in the left and eventually reverse itself. That right there is why I can't see the 3D effect. The fact adults were used in the study and had good results gives me hope that I can correct this impairment. Those sneaky Russians

So... you didn't play enough Tetris as a kid
I guess it's time to play now

 

[the_randomizer]

So... you didn't play enough Tetris as a kid
I guess it's time to play now

No, I actually haven't played much of it to be honest. I wonder if it's possible to rewire the optic nerve or at least "trick" my brain into reversing the issue and have my left eye fully functioning. Though I should probably ask my doctor for advice first, I don't want to do something I'm not supposed to.

 

[PolloDiablo]

No, I actually haven't played much of it to be honest. I wonder if it's possible to rewire the optic nerve or at least "trick" my brain into reversing the issue and have my left eye fully functioning. Though I should probably ask my doctor for advice first, I don't want to do something I'm not supposed to.

yeah, ask your doctor first before trying anything. Also, look for different opinions... don't rely on one doctor's recommendation.

 

[the_randomizer]

yeah, ask your doctor first before trying anything. Also, look for different opinions... don't rely on one doctor's recommendation.

Of course. If anything, I mean anything can be done to reverse this with minimal adverse effects, then I see no harm in doing so. The surgeon who gave me the corrective eye surgery (cosmetic mostly, since by that point, the brain was convinced that my eye was still "turned in") told me that it was probably permanent. But with advances in medical science, repair may not be an impossibility.

 

[ferofax]

Um... I think there was a vision training game for the DS... I believe that one is specifically tailored for improving eyesight. You play it in 15-30 minute sessions, and it won't let you play more. Gives you ridiculous mini games that forces you to focus your eyes on one spot WHILE making your peripheral vision work (so those things that pop up in the corner of your eye can be seen more clearly... hweh hweh hweh), and lots of other eye workouts.

I tried it, but I just don't have the patience for self-improvement programs.

To be honest playing Tetris probably has a lot more to offer than just training a lazy eye, although side effects may include Tetris Effect.

My god, I thought I was trapped there for a second. Good thing you didn't link to tvtropes. I caught myself starting to click secondary links, lol.