Prevention of accommodation disorders and myopia in children

Background. An important role in the structure of ophthalmic pathology is played by myopia, especially rapidly progressing in adolescence, and accommodation disorders, which are, in fact, the precursors and companions of myopia. The purpose was to prevent accommodation disorders and mild myopia in children of different age groups by using dietary supplements Doppelherz® Kinder Eye vitamins with lutein and Doppelherz® Kinder Glycine. Materials and methods. One hundred and three children of diffe-rent age groups underwent functional examination against the background of treatment: group I — primary school age, prepubertal period (6–11 years) — 24 children, group II — middle school age, pubertal period (12–18 years) — 79 children, 24 of them had problems of the neck and collar zone associated with computer load. Standard examination methods were used. Results. After the course of the proposed therapy, the Haidinger’s phenomenon decreased to 5.70 ± 0.01 conventional units (p < 0.05) in the first group; up to 4.60 ± 0.03 conventional units in 55 children of the second group without problems in the neck and collar zone and up to 5.40 ± 0.02 conventional units in 24 children who had such problems (p < 0.02). Conclusions. Using Doppelherz® Kinder Eye vitamins with lutein and Doppelherz® Kinder Glycine improves the functioning of the ciliary muscle. Under the influence of treatment, visual acuity and accommodation reserves increased, and the power of optical correction decreased. The positive influence of Doppelherz® Kinder Eye vitamins with lutein and Doppelherz® Kinder Glycine on the increase in the functional activity of the fovea-afferent system and the accommodative function of the visual analyzer in spasm of accommodation and mild myopia has been proven.

Signatures of vibration frequency tuning in human neocortex

Humans can perceive and discriminate vibration frequency, yet the central representation of this fundamental feature is unknown. Using fMRI, we discovered that cortical responses are tuned for vibration frequency. Voxel tuning was biased in a manner that reflects perceptual sensitivity and the response profile of the Pacinian afferent system. These results imply the existence of tuned populations that may encode naturalistic vibrations according to their constituent spectra.

An Exploration of the Interaction Between Touch Avoidance and the Pleasant Touch (C-Tactile Afferent) System

C-tactile (CT) afferent fibers are optimally stimulated by slow gentle stroking, and an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between stroking velocity and pleasantness ratings of this type of touch. This study investigated whether an additional and potentially important variable, touch avoidance, interacts with this relationship. While a typical U-shaped velocity–pleasantness relationship was expected, those high in touch avoidance were expected to rate CT-targeted touch (1–10 cm/s) as less pleasant than those low in touch avoidance. Thirty-five participants rated the pleasantness of a brush stroked across their forearm at five velocities (0.3, 1, 3, 10, 30 cm/s) administered by a custom-built touch stimulator (“the touch device”). Participants also completed two self-report measures of touch avoidance. There was an inverted U-shaped relationship between velocity and pleasantness ratings, and high touch avoidance resulted in a downward shift of this curve. The downward shift was across all velocities, including those that do not maximally engage CT afferents. It appears that touch avoidance reduces the pleasantness of all kinds of touch in a similar way, and it is unlikely to be specifically related to CT afferent functioning. Other potential mechanisms leading to touch avoidance are discussed.