Do you think video games could become a new tool in the detection of diseases such as Alzheimer's?
The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. wanted to answer this question and joined a videogame design company to test whether they are capable of detecting cognitive differences in elderly (healthy) people at risk of suffering from dementia.
Experts consider that these types of games could be used both for detect the first signs of Alzheimer's disease, as well as to help track its progression and measure the effectiveness of treatments.
La amyloid, a type of protein, is considered the most likely cause of the damage caused by Alzheimer's (people who have it in their brains, have a higher risk of suffering from the disease than those without it). According to this, and to know the usefulness of video games in the early detection of Alzheimer's, it will be carried out a study in which the cognitive abilities of 100 healthy volunteers will be evaluated (with and without amyloid). These evaluations will be carried out both at the beginning of this study and throughout a month in which the volunteers will play the call "Project: EVO" (executable through iPhones and iPads).
[Scroll down to see the VIDEO "Forget me not"]
This «Project: EVO» is a video game that consists of driving around a track and, at the same time, shooting at traffic signs. It is designed to measure and improve planning, decision-making and attention skills, so that participants can cope with everyday distractions and interruptions. Usually, deficits in these abilities are the most common symptoms of many degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, but also disorders such as depression, ADD, and autism.
”It is a tool that allows cognitive monitoring of patients in clinical trials, thus representing an important advance in Alzheimer's research ”; says Michael Ehlers, vice president and chief science officer of Pfizer's Neuroscience Research Unit.
According to the Akili Interactiva laboratory, This is the first time that a pharmaceutical company has tested the use of video games as a clinical tool for the detection of the first signs of degenerative neurological diseases.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia and it is based on a significant loss of memory and intellectual abilities, seriously interfering with the person's daily life. It is estimated that about 650.000 people in England suffer from this disease; being, most of them, older than 65 years.
Since there is currently no effective test to diagnose Alzheimer's (Doctors make the diagnosis based on the evaluation of symptoms), it is hoped that this new tool "Project EVO" be a first step in the effective detection of this disease. Source
I leave you with a video titled "Don't forget me":
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