Background: Patching an eye for a period of 2 hours results in a period of plasticity where inter-ocular balance shifts in favor of the patched eye. Acetylcholine has been shown to improve visual function and augment adult neural plasticity. Here we evaluate whether administering the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil enhances the magnitude or duration of the patching induced shift in ocular balance.

Methods: We used a double-blind drug treatment design to test the effect of donepezil and patching on the shift in ocular balance. We used a well-known binocular phase combination task to measure ocular balance before and after treatment.

Results: Our results demonstrate that donepezil does not enhance, and may actually reduce the magnitude and duration of the patching-induced shift in ocular balance.

Conclusions: Patching induced adult neural plasticity does not appear to be modulated by the cholinergic system, however, increased dose or longer drug administration periods may yield significant results. Future studies on binocular rivalry are in the pipeline.

Abstract: Focal intraretinal alterations have been studied to advance our understanding of the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases. The current literature involving focal alterations in the intraretinal layers was reviewed through PubMed using the search terms “focal alteration”, “region of interest”, “optical coherence tomography”, “glaucoma”, “multiple sclerosis”, “Alzheimer’s disease”, “Parkinson disease”, “neurodegenerative diseases” and other related items. It was found that focal alterations of intraretinal layers were different in various neurodegenerative diseases. The typical focal thinning might help differentiate various ocular and cerebral diseases, track disease progression, and evaluate the outcome of clinical trials. Advanced exploration of focal intraretinal alterations will help to further validate their clinical and research utility.