Parallels between use of constraint-induced movement therapy to treat neurological motor disorders and amblyopia training

There are striking similarities between the visual defect of amblyopia and the motor deficit of the extremities produced by such types of damage to the central nervous system (CNS) as stroke and traumatic brain injury, both after and before maturity. Part of the motor deficit of the extremities following CNS injury can be attributed to a learning phenomenon termed learned nonuse or if present from birth, developmental disregard. The same mechanism is hypothesized to be involved in the development of amblyopia. Treatments that are efficacious in the remediation of these defects, Constraint-Induced Movement therapy and amblyopia training, also share a number of strong similarities. In addition, plastic brain changes are produced by CI therapy and are hypothesized to occur during amblyopia training. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 54:274-292, 2012.