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NEI Research News

Thanks to the work of NEI scientists and grantees, we’re constantly learning new information about the causes and treatment of vision disorders. Get the latest updates about their work — along with other news about NEI.

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Illustration showing the retina as seen through a dilated pupil.

Eylea outperforms other drugs for diabetic macular edema with moderate or worse vision loss

In an NIH-supported clinical trial comparing three drugs for diabetic macular edema (DME), Eylea (aflibercept) provided greater visual improvement, on average, than did Avastin (bevacizumab) or Lucentis (ranibizumab) when vision was 20/50 or worse.
 If a study participant were instructed to pay attention to “scenes” and he was attending well, he would be shown the top image as a reward. As his attention lapsed, the middle and bottom images would be shown. The face in the photograph is that of the study’s first author, Megan deBettencourt, a doctoral candidate at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

Brain Training May Bolster Visual Attention

People are bad at staying focused. We’ve all had our minds wander when we try to concentrate on a task that requires paying close attention but isn’t all that engaging.
Grantee News

Tufts University Researchers Identify Mechanism Involved in Causing Cataracts in Mice

A team of scientists has established that a breakdown in communication between two biochemical pathways in the eye is involved in causing cataracts.
Degenerated RPE cells from mice with geographic atrophy are shown at left. Treating the mice with NRTIs protected the RPE cells. Photos courtesy of Jayakrishna Ambati, M.D.

HIV drugs show promise for “dry” AMD

A class of medications long used to curb HIV infection shows promise as a therapy for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), suggest findings from an NIH-funded study.
Grantee News

New research unlocks a mystery of albinism

Newly published research provides the first demonstration of how a genetic mutation associated with a common form of albinism leads to the lack of melanin pigments that characterizes the condition.
Grantee News

Elderly brains learn, but maybe too much

A new study finds that in learning a visual task, older people exhibited a surprising degree of plasticity, but had trouble filtering out irrelevant information.
Clinical study of a new eye drop may offer hope to patients with dry eye. Photo courtesy of Patrick Walderzak.

NEI sets stage for new clinical trial to tackle dry eye

For some people it feels like a speck of sand in the eye, or stinging or burning that doesn’t go away. For others, dry eye disease (or simply dry eye) can become a chronic condition that leads to blurred vision or even vision loss if it goes untreated.
Grantee News

New Glaucoma Culprit Is Found

In a unique study of human ocular cells, a multi-institution research team finds that glaucoma appears to be a consequence of mechanical dysfunction of a thin layer of cells that is the final barrier to fluid entering Schlemm's canal.
Grantee News

"Haven't I Seen This Before?" Researchers Show How Neurons Respond to Sequences of Familiar Objects

A new study reveals how neurons in the part of the brain responsible for recognizing objects respond to being shown a barrage of images.
Grantee News

Proteins critical to wound healing identified

Research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis may have implications for treating diseases involving abnormal blood vessel growth, such as the impaired wound healing often seen in diabetes.