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Abstract
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Upholding postural stability is of central importance for daily living.1,2 Vision, along with vestibular and somatosensory inputs, supplies sensory information regarding the position of the body with respect to the environment to warrant upright balance and forward movement in the course of gait.1,2 Therefore, the incorporation between these elements is a key determinant factor for control of postural stability.1,2 However, the role of vision is critical in postural control.1 Once normal binocular vision is undesirably disturbed in childhood due to some reason, especially in patients with amblyopia, balance may also be affected.1
Amblyopia is known as reduced best-corrected visual acuity in the absence of a structural ocular defect or visual pathway anomaly.1,3,4 However, this definition has recently been questioned through the concept that although the central feature of amblyopia is reduced best-corrected visual acuity, it is mainly due to binocular vision anomalies.1,5 Considering this concept, postural instability should be consistent with the loss of binocular vision in its most general form.1,5 This is confirmed by the findings that optimal binocular vision provides more information for keeping balance than monocular vision in both normal healthy controls and patients with amblyopia.1,2,6-8
Postural stability can be evaluated under progressively tough situations, such as minimized base of support (i.e., standing on one leg) or diminished sensory cues (i.e., standing with eyes closed or on a soft surface).1,2 Similarly, obstacles have been tried to evaluate walking in a more demanding situation (i.e., walking on an icy surface or walking on a treadmill when vision is denied).1,2 In this context, reduced postural stability has been demonstrated in patients with amblyopia.1,2,6,8 Since postural stability is a critical aspect in standing or navigating through the environment, the presence of reduced postural stability in amblyopic patients can affect their everyday function...
Language: en |