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Published online 17 April 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.766
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Antidepressant may treat lazy eye
Fluoxetine helps rats rewire their brain's visual centre.
The drug fluoxetine (Prozac), prescribed to millions of people with mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, might soon have an unexpected new medical use — as a treatment for lazy eye syndrome.
A study of rats with impaired vision shows that daily doses of fluoxetine help their brains' visual centres to rewire themselves and correct the defect.
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