Video Games: Part 3 - The New Medicine?


Ok, so there are benefits and privacy risks to video games. But did you know there is an actual attempt to make it a physician prescribed mode of therapy?!

It started off in a university lab, where Adam Gazzaley noticed that the benefits of playing certain video games (sustained attention and improvements to working memory) extended beyond the duration of game play. He found that certain areas of the brain “lit up” when you focused or tried hard. Further, hitting those areas of the brain with waves of certain frequencies when they lit up increased one’s cognitive ability even more. And yes, those benefits too extended beyond the period of game play.

So his team designed video games whose difficulty level adjusted based on the feedback received from sensors attached to your body: push you enough to challenge you but not so much that you got frustrated!

And so Gazzaley formed a company to productize such games as therapy. A couple of pharma companies like Pfizer and Merck have invested in it, just in case this opens a new avenue of (digital) medication. Of course, this means the games have to undergo clinical trials and checked for side-effect, same as any other medicine!

And now, one of the company’s games is on the verge of regulatory approval for treating children with attention deficit disorders (ADHD). So are we on the cusp of a medical revolution? Ah, but regulatory isn’t the only hurdle, says Gazzaley. Would doctors feel silly prescribing a dose of “one month of iPad playing Evo”?! And convincing insurance companies to pay for the cost of the games may not be easy either.

Then again, crazier things have become the norm over time, so who can say?

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