Check out our new animation video featuring Dr. EYEnstein and learn more about the signs and symptoms of your child’s eye health. We spoof test a child’s visual development using parental localization apparatus – that is, 4-foot pink bunny ears at a school assembly.

Beyond our love of laughter and good comedy, there is also a level of science involved. Most of our research has to do with the necessity for intact visual sensation over time. If the visual sensory signal from the eye to the cortex is intermittent – is interrupted through time – then the eye control mechanisms that require intact sensation suffer. So, the pause in eye movements (fixation) during reading that allows the transmission of letters or words (visual detail data) to the brain can be interrupted by suppression. Intermittent central suppression is the intermittent loss of central visual sensation on its way to the primary visual area of the brain.

There’s another level to the disruption in visual sensation in that during a suppression, the picture on one side drops out. But that eye doesn’t “go black.” Somewhere beyond the level of the first cortical visual area, a fill-in (that is the correct term, perceptual fill-in) is calculated that fills in the sensory-perceptual void with visual junk that is about the right color and texture to fit into the scene. It’s not accurate visual data, but some of the research shows it is remarkably strong. So, this poor child, viewing the bunny ears at the wrong time for his intermittent visual sensation, could actually have a weirder picture than just seeing his parents in bunny ears.

Most of the intermittent central suppression we see is probably developmental. So, does it make sense to test a child’s ability to locate his parents visually in a crowded setting? Absolutely! With bunny ears? Well, maybe that would impede the ability to publish the study in a good science journal.

But admit it. It would be fun to try, wouldn’t it? It would probably cost a lot of ice cream to get your child to forgive you, though.

We specialize in providing services and information relating to:

  • Reading comprehension
  • Playing sports with a moving ball
  • Eye strain

Other questions to consider:

  • Does my child skip or repeat lines when reading?
  • Do words run together when reading?
  • Miss small words when reading?
  • Have poor reading comprehension?
  • Have trouble keeping attention on reading?
  • Have trouble completing assignments?

Call us today to set up your next exam with us, and feel free to ask questions regarding your or your child’s eye health.

We look forward to meeting you!

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