Dr. Sarah Shizuko Morimoto and her team at the University of Utah’s Department of Health Sciences received a $7.5 million grant to conduct clinical trials with Neurogrow, a video game created to treat older adults with depression. The game, developed by the University’s Laboratory of Games and Therapeutic Applications, proposes players to maintain a virtual garden whose needs and conditions are constantly changing. Morimoto spent the last 15 years studying the influence of video games on frontal lobe circuits, the damage of which can affect the effectiveness of antidepressants. According to his theory, which he identifies as “atrophy due to lack of use”, the mechanisms wear out over time and must be reconstructed for the medication to be effective.
In preliminary tests conducted on patients who had not responded to medication, between 60% and 70% showed a significant reduction (50%) in symptoms of depression.” We are strengthening the ability to use these parts of the brain that have become less useful as the patient ages,” Morimoto told The Salt Lake portal Tribune.La university will receive the scholarship in April and plan to begin clinical trials in August, which will be able to be conducted both at a facility in Utah and remotely via Zoom. followed by a four-week period during which patients play Neurogrow and other games for about 30 hours in total. They then take a new test to see if there were any changes, and a two-week follow-up is done, which can be extended to a trimester and a year for patients who want a new evaluation.
“I would say that most of the applications for depression that exist are not aimed at the neurobiology of the disease.”
While in the preliminary studies Morimoto only used patients who were taking antidepressants, but in this case they will also treat individuals who are not medicated.” I would say that most of the applications for depression that exist are not aimed at the neurobiology of the disease,” morimoto explains. “They’re doing psychotherapy through the web or giving you cognitive or behavioral tools to use during the day. What we’re doing is something different.”
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