A recent study noted that a specially developed video game targeting basic cognitive issues could prove beneficial in the treatment of depression and improving focus and mood in the affected individuals.
People With Late-Life Depression Treated With Video Game Interface
Individuals with late-life depression, or LLD, are so distracted by their worries and eventually have problems in concentrating or paying attention to their personal goals. They also report difficulty in focusing. The researchers tested the specially designed video game interface in patients with LLD.
The study conducted by Joaquin A. Anguera, researcher in psychiatry and neurology at University of California, San Francisco, and her team, was a proof of concept tested on about 22 60-year-old people suffering from LLD. The participants were randomly picked for either problem solving therapy or neurobiologically stimulated digital platform intended to augment cognitive control faculties.
The researchers investigated the impact of an intervention targeting cognitive control abilities, functional disability, and mood on the participants and compared the outcomes with the therapeutic gold standard.
What Is EVO Treatment?
EVO is a treatment technology developed by Akili Interactive Labs. The technology is based on neuroscience approach built to target certain neurological systems through digital and sensory mechanics. The technology aims at an individual's core neurological ability to work on multiple streams of information.
The technology works on tablets and phones and is intended to improve the attention and focus of participants at a basic neurological level. EVO focuses on helping people to focus their attention better and to avert them from getting easily distracted.
As a part of the study, the participants had to play the action video game for duration of 20 minutes five times a week or more. In addition to playing the video game, the participants had to attend weekly meetings with a clinician to help them have a positive impact on their moods via social contact.
Therapeutic Video Game Proved To Be An Efficient LLD Intervention
The video game interface EVO proved to be as effective as the PST after four weeks of treatment. The study displayed similar improvements in mood and self-reported function in participants in both cases.
The EVO participants also demonstrated generality to untaught measures of working attention and memory plus negativity bias. This finding was not found in the PST participants.
Even though most of the participants had never used tablets before, they showed total adherence.
"While EVO was not directly designed to treat depressive symptoms, we hypothesized that there may indeed be beneficial effects on these symptoms by improving cognitive issues with targeted treatment, and so far, the results are promising," said Anguera in a press release.
The results of the research were published in the journal Depression and Anxiety.
