手機的應用程序真的能改善老花眼嗎大綱

The Ache: In presbyopia, the eye's lens loses elasticity with age. The ability to focus on near objects deteriorates, resulting in the need for reading glasses.
病痛：老花眼的成因是，眼睛的晶狀體隨年齡增長而失去彈性，聚焦近處物體的能力減弱，因此需要佩戴老花鏡。

The Claim: A 12-week, scientifically tested training program, newly available as an iPhone app, uses a technique called perceptual learning to reduce -- or even eliminate -- the need for reading glasses.
主張：一項爲期12周、經過科學檢驗的訓練項目最近以iPhone應用的形式面市，該項目使用一種名爲“知覺學習”(perceptual learning)的技術來減少（甚至消除）佩戴老花鏡的必要性。

The Verdict: A 30-person study published in February 2012 in the journal Scientific Reports found that after trying the program -- now on sale as an iPhone app called Glasses-Off -- participants on average could read letters 1.6 times smaller than they could previously. The program is much more likely to show improvement in adults 40 to 60 years old, scientists say.
定論：2012年2月份刊登在《科學報告》(Scientific Reports)上的一項覆蓋30人的研究的論文指出，在試用該項目（目前作爲一個名爲“摘掉眼鏡”(Glasses-Off)的iPhone應用銷售）之後，參與者平均能夠閱讀比之前小1.6倍的字母。科學家們表示，該項目爲40至60歲的成年人帶來改善的可能性要比其他人羣大得多。

The self-guided app, launched this week by GlassesOff Inc., starts with a vision test, followed by a personalized training program users employ three times a week for 12 to 15 minutes per session. In one test, users must decide whether an E is facing up, down, right or left. The test gets harder when the E becomes smaller or lower-contrast. At the end of the session, users receive a personalized assessment of how much the app is likely to help them in various tasks, such as reading an article.
該自助式應用由GlassesOff Inc.於近期推出，該公司在以色列和紐約設有辦公室。該應用一開始是一項視力測試，之後是個性化訓練項目，用戶一週接受三次訓練，每次12到15分鐘。在一項測試中，用戶要判斷字母E是朝上、朝下、朝右還是朝左。隨着字母E尺寸縮小或對比度降低，測試難度會加大。在訓練的最後，用戶會接受一項個性化評估，看看該應用能在多大程度上幫助他們改進在各項任務中的表現，比如閱讀文章。

The training consists of identifying fuzzy, striped images called Gabor patches, which can be hard to see against a similarly colored backdrop.
該訓練內容包括辨認名爲“加博爾視標”(Gabor patch)的條紋狀模糊圖案，在顏色相近的背景下，這些圖案辨認起來會有難度。

The app is free for two or three weeks after a user signs up. To continue using it after that costs $59 for four months. The company, which has offices in Israel and New York, is offering a temporary $10 promotional price. After the initial program, the company offers a personalized maintenance program of one or two sessions per week at extra cost.
該應用在用戶註冊兩週或三週之內可免費使用。之後若想繼續使用，費用爲59美元，可使用四個月，目前促銷價爲10美元。最初的訓練項目完成之後，該公司會提供一項個性化保持項目，每週安排一次或兩次訓練，須額外交費。

The app isn't a cure for presbyopia, but makes the brain 'better able to interpret' the poor information it gets from aging eyes, says Dennis M. Levi, dean of University of California Berkeley's School of Optometry and co-author of the study. Dr. Levi is a scientific adviser to GlassesOff and has been promised stock options as compensation.
加州大學伯克利分校(University of California Berkeley)眼科視光學學院(School of Optometry)主任、此項研究作者之一丹尼斯・M.利瓦伊(Dennis M. Levi)表示，該應用並不能治癒老花，但能使大腦“更好地詮釋”通過老化的眼睛所獲得的貧乏信息。利瓦伊博士是GlassesOff的科學顧問，該公司承諾授予他股票期權作爲報酬。

Anyone can use the product, says GlassesOff Chief Executive Nimrod Madar. But people over 70 likely still will need reading glasses for extended reading and low-light tasks.
GlassesOff首席執行長尼姆羅德・馬達爾(Nimrod Madar)表示，任何人都可以使用該產品。但70歲以上的人如果長時間閱讀或在光線較暗的環境中做事情，可能還是需要佩戴老花鏡。Using the new app 'might help people to better recognize slightly blurry images, but it isn't going to change the elasticity of the lens,' says James Salz, a clinical professor of ophthalmology at the University of Southern California.
南加州大學(University of Southern California)眼科學臨牀教授詹姆斯・薩爾斯(James Salz)表示，使用這款新應用“或許能幫助人們更好地辨認略顯模糊的圖像，但不會改變晶狀體的彈性”。

The idea of using perceptual learning for vision difficulties has scientific merit, says Peter J. Bex, a neuroscientist at Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston, part of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Using perceptual learning to improve vision has proved viable in several scientific studies, including in people with lazy eye. Still, more research is needed on the GlassesOff program -- particularly comparing the test group to a group that got an ersatz training exercise, scientists say.
波士頓舍彭斯眼科研究所(Schepens Eye Research Institute，屬於馬薩諸塞州眼科和耳科醫院(Massachusetts Eye and Ear Institute))神經學家彼得・J.貝克斯(Peter J. Bex)稱，通過知覺學習來緩解視覺困難這一做法是有科學道理的。通過知覺學習來改善視力的可行性已得到幾項科學研究的證明，其中包括針對弱視者的研究。但科學家稱，還需要對GlassesOff的項目展開更多研究――尤其是將受試組與接受替代訓練的組別進行對照的研究。

Another issue, Dr. Bex says, is that the results of perceptual learning sometimes apply only very narrowly to the tasks practiced in training. The ability to read small print may improve, but it's unclear how much difference that makes for people in a wider range of daily tasks.
貝克斯博士表示，另一個問題是知覺學習的效果有時僅僅侷限於在訓練中練習過的任務。閱讀小字的能力可能會有所提高，但目前還不清楚這項訓練能在多大程度上提高人們完成更廣泛日常任務的能力。

A study, presented in July at the Asia-Pacific Conference on Vision in China, found that the GlassesOff program improved performance on measures including contrast sensitivity -- suggesting the improvement will apply to a wide range of daily tasks, Mr. Madar says.
馬達爾說，7月份在中國舉行的亞太視覺會議(Asia-Pacific Conference on Vision)上宣讀的一項研究成果顯示，GlassesOff的項目改善了對比敏感度等指標――暗示該應用能改善人們完成廣泛日常任務的能力。