Neural plasticity induced in visual cortex by cycling may improve recovery from amblyopia ("lazy eye") — previously thought untreatable in adults
From the article:
Lunghi and Sale put 20 adults through this test twice; in one deprivation test, participants with one eye patched watched a movie while relaxing in a chair. In the other test, participants with one eye patched exercised on a stationary bike for ten-minute intervals during the movie. The results were clear: brain plasticity was enhanced by the exercise.
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“We found that if, during the two hours of eye patching, the subject intermittently cycles, the perceptual effect of eye patching on binocular rivalry is stronger compared to a condition in which, during the two hours of patching, the subject watches a movie while sitting on a chair. That is, after physical activity, the eye that was patched is strongly potentiated, indicating increased levels of brain plasticity.”