A retinal reboot for amblyopia

MIT Technology Review

by David Orenstein

February 24, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

A groundbreaking study by MIT neuroscientists led by Mark Bear has revealed a novel approach to treating amblyopia, or "lazy eye," a condition where one eye experiences impaired vision due to early-life neural shifts in the brain's visual system. Unlike current treatments, which are only effective during infancy and early childhood when neural connections are still forming, this new method shows promise for adults by temporarily anesthetizing the retina of the affected eye. By blocking signals from the amblyopic eye for just a couple of days, researchers observed that neurons in the visual cortex fired bursts of electrical pulses, a pattern similar to those seen during early brain development. This process restored balance in the visual inputs between the two eyes, indicating improved vision in mice modeled with amblyopia. The study builds on earlier findings where anesthetizing either one eye or both eyes could help rewire the visual system, but it now delves into the underlying mechanism. By targeting the retina of the amblyopic eye and inducing neuronal bursting, researchers found that this activity is crucial for restoring neural connections. This approach avoids interrupting vision in the healthy eye, a limitation of traditional patching methods. The experiments showed that after two days of retinal anesthesia, treated mice demonstrated more even visual inputs from both eyes, suggesting significant progress toward treating amblyopia. This breakthrough matters significantly for readers interested in AI and technology because it highlights the potential of neuroscience research to develop innovative

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Originally published on MIT Technology Review on 2/24/2026