Computer games against age depression

Special computer games are as effective against age depression as antidepressants

08/07/2014

Specially designed computer games have a similar efficacy to age depression as antidepressants, according to a recent study by Chinese and US researchers. Like the scientists around Sarah Shizuko Morimoto from Weill Cornell Medical College (New York) in the journal „Nature Communications“ report, the training was on the computer „91 percent of participants were just as effective in reducing depressive symptoms as escitalopram“ (common drug for the treatment of depression).

The specially developed computer programs also achieved their effect significantly faster than conventional therapy in the treatment of age depression, the researchers report. The computer game therapy works „in four weeks instead of twelve.“ In addition, there is no risk of side effects when training on the computer. The scientists believe that the study results confirm their assumption that the aging brain can be regenerated with the help of a special training and thus counteracted by age depression. The so-called executive functions of the study participants would also have improved significantly.

Special computer programs for training of cognitive functions
Scientists from China and the US developed the computer program to train cognitive functions to examine how they can achieve mental regeneration and how it affects age depression. In a group of 60 to 89-year-old sufferers, they tested the computer game therapy. Eleven „resistant to therapy older adults with severe depression“ went through the four-week training program on the computer. Subsequently, the researchers compared the outcome of the treatment with data from a 33-person control group in which the common antidepressant escitalopram was administered.

Computer game therapy with convincing result
According to the researchers, the result of computer games therapy was overall convincing. After four weeks training with the help of the computer programs, the executive functions of the subjects would have increased significantly and at the same time the age depression had decreased considerably. Within just four weeks, the majority of the study participants achieved a comparably positive effect, which can only be achieved with the help of the antidepressant escitalopram after eleven weeks, write Sarah Shizuko Morimoto and colleagues. In addition, the executive functions had improved on average more than with the use of escitalopram. However, in view of the extremely low number of participants in the current study, further examinations with significantly larger samples are initially necessary before a therapy recommendation can be made in the direction of the computer programs. (Fp)