WIDE ANGLE
Videogame-based therapeutics: a game-changer for ADHD!
For children living with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), improving their ability to focus and resist distraction is critical to their daily functioning and performance in school," said Elysa Marco, M.D., a cognitive and behavioral child neurologist at Cortica Healthcare. With an estimated prevalence of 5% worldwide, ADHD remains to be the most commonly detected mental health disorders among children.
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rendered Akili Interactive Labs, Inc. a clean chit for releasing its therapeutic program EndeavorRxTM aimed at improving cognitive performance in paediatric patients (aged 8-12) diagnosed with ADHD. EndeavorRxTM, with its captivating video game-like interface and reward loops, stimulates neural systems by using sensory and motor stimuli to drive engagement via cognitive control. The software uses adaptive mechanisms to personalise the level of difficulty specific to the user’s tolerability. It was prescribed for home-play for 25 min per day, 5 days per week for 4 weeks. The outcome of the trial was that EndeavorRxTM showed favourable improvement in attention, inhibition and memory deficit, on at least one measure of objective attention. Additionally, the parents in their exit survey, after one month of the prescribed therapeutic, reported relevant changes in the daily impairments of their child, which further increased to 68% after the second round of treatment. While this intervention cannot be used as an alternative to established treatment options but increases the magnitude of efficacy. The potential in gamification to alleviate the symptoms of ADHD is challenging the status quo of medicines.
References:
1) Kollins SH, DeLoss DJ, Cañadas E, et al. (2020) A novel digital intervention for actively reducing severity of paediatric ADHD (STARS-ADHD): a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet 2: e168–78
2) Lim CG, Lee TS, Guan C, Fung DSS, Zhao Y, et al. (2012) A Brain-Computer Interface Based Attention Training Program for Treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. PLoS ONE 7(10): e46692.
3) Díaz-Orueta D, Garcia-López C, Crespo-Eguílaz N, et al. (2014) AULA virtual reality test as an attention measure: Convergent validity with Conners’ Continuous Performance Test, Child Neuropsychology, 20:3, 328-342