Deficient motion-defined and texture-defined figure-ground segregation in amblyopic children.

Purpose: Motion-defined form deficits in the fellow eye and the amblyopic eye of children with amblyopia implicate possible direction-selective motion processing or static figure-ground segregation deficits. Deficient motion-defined form perception in the fellow eye of amblyopic children may not be fully accounted for by a general motion processing deficit. This study investigates the contribution of figure-ground segregation deficits to the motion-defined form perception deficits in amblyopia.

Methods: Performances of 6 amblyopic children (5 anisometropic, 1 anisostrabismic) and 32 control children with normal vision were assessed on motion-defined form, texture-defined form, and global motion tasks.

Results: Performance on motion-defined and texture-defined form tasks was significantly worse in amblyopic children than in control children. Performance on global motion tasks was not significantly different between the 2 groups.

Conclusion: Faulty figure-ground segregation mechanisms are likely responsible for the observed motion-defined form perception deficits in amblyopia.