Playing video games can help improve the vision of adults with amblyopia, according to vision researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Their pilot study found that participants experienced marked improvement in visual acuity and 3-D depth perception after spending just 40 hours playing off-the-shelf video games. “This study is the first to show that video game play is useful for improving blurred vision in adults with amblyopia,” said study lead author Roger Li, O.D., Ph.D., research optometrist at the School of Optometry and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley. “I was very surprised by this finding; I didn’t expect to see this type of improvement.”

Salus University president Thomas L. Lewis, O.D., Ph.D., announced he will step down effective June 30, 2012, after which he will take a one-year sabbatical. Dr. Lewis led the transition of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry from a single to a multi-purposed institution with the addition of a variety of degree programs. In a letter to the university at large, Dr. Lewis wrote, “My years at PCO/Salus have been magical, fulfilling and rewarding … Being president has been a lonely and humbling job, but I could never have found a position so rewarding or one that I could have loved more.” He added, “We can’t stop growing and changing because the challenges to higher education today are significant.” The university is undertaking a search for a replacement.