I have been interested in neuroadaptation for many years and was ecstatic to discover the RevitalVision program as its science is essentially based on neuroadaptation. I have spoken with many neurologists nationwide about this topic and wanted to share some of the more fascinating information I have learned from my studies – some of which relates directly to RevitalVision. RevitalVision is a computer-based program designed to maximize your vision. It is designed to improve your eye sight in two ways. First, it enhances the speed with which information is taken from your eyes and transmitted to your brain. It does this by stimulating the neurons that form the visual system; when the neurons are stimulated, the depositing of myelin (or white matter) around the visual nerves occurs. The more myelin deposited, the broader the nerve.The broader the nerve, the faster the information is transferred. This faster transfer of information allows for more information to be transferred. Thus, enhancing your vision! This is similar to the difference between "dial up" and "broadband" internet.
We have achieved particularly dramatic results with the "After Cataract Surgery" program both with patients who have had a multi-focal lens implanted as well as those with standard lenses implanted. Patients who have had the ReStor lens implant have found that starting the RevitalVision program 4-6 weeks after the 2nd cataract procedure gives them a dramatic boost as it facilitates their brains' process of neuroadaptation. Several patients have compared it to the kick that they get when the turbo on their car engine fires. The Crystalens works because a muscle in your eye is freed when the cataract is removed. To maximize your range of vision with the Crystalens you need to strengthen that muscle. The RevitalVision program will not only increase the speed and the contrast, but will also strengthen the muscle. We have had a large group of 40-somethings who have been able to return to their pre-reading glasses vision (this is usually accompanied by a phone call to us that will typically start with cries of joy and disbelief). Because of the nature of our practice, we have only limited experience with the Amblyopia and Post LASIK portions of the program. However, the national results are very favorable. CLICK HERE to read the October 2009 Vogue article by editor Abigail Walch for her personal experience with RevitalVision. It is very well written and informative. I have really enjoyed many of the books I have read on neuroadaptation. I discuss a few for those of you who may also be interested in this fascinating process: Stanislas Dehaene has written Reading in the Brain which really goes into depth about how we see in general and read in specific. He lays out the many processes that are involved with vision. He also discusses how language and culture have effects on reading. For instance, Italian, because of its strict rules, is relatively easy to read with students typically mastering it in a year while English is much more difficult due to the intricacies of the rules and the many exceptions that will routinely take a student three years to master. The book also discusses how no real estate in the brain is left vacant. Any space that is not used, say because of a lazy eye, is recruited for other uses. Sticking with the example of a lazy eye which will typically use less of the brain, more space in the brain is freed up for the good eye which will be able to use more of the brain than either eye of a two-eyed person. Proust Was A Neuroscientist is a book that my son, John, introduced me to as he was a huge fan of Proust’s writing. It is a fun, approachable book by Jonah Lehrer that consists of a series of vignettes about famous people and, in general, the sense for which they were most famous. For instance, Escoffier is used to explore the sense of taste and Proust to explore memory. Lehrer picked Cezanne because of his ability to reduce his paintings to as little as just a few lines, yet still capture the essence of what he painted, most famously Mt. St. Victoire in Provence. These little essays will really help you to understand just how vision works. Back in 2006 or 2007, I came across Richard Restak’s book, The Naked Brain in which are clearly laid out the basic principles of neuroscience. He also has a lot of fun predicting how society will be changed by the progress of neuroscience. Pay particular attention to his discussion of mirror neurons. If we watch someone we do not know across the street do something nice for somebody else we do not know, we ourselves will experience a positive feeling. Yes, doing good is contagious. One of the first books that I read related to neuropsychology was This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel J. Levitin, published in 2007. He started as a musician, became a sound engineer and then went ahead and received his PhD in neuroscience. As painful as this is for me to say, I have to admit that the ear doctors are far ahead of eye doctors on doing research on the neuroscience of their sense, hearing. Perhaps that is because we hear with about 3,000 cells in each ear while we see with 3,000,000 cells in each macula, or area of fine vision. This book is an excellent place to start. Levitin is very sympathetic about our lack of knowledge of music theory; yet, as he points out, we all know what we like!
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Some Personal Thoughts on RevitalVision
