Last year, we wrote about Rewarding Our Brains to Break Bad Habits.. Today, we look at the value of video games as an experimental therapy for COVID brain fog, “Brain fog” has been faced by many people during the pandemic.
From Akili Interactive: Experimental Therapy for COVID Brain Fog
We know about the growing popularity of video games. Therefore, why not experiment with them for more health benefits. Then, people would enjoy themselves while benefiting medically.
One new experiment joins forces between Akili Interactive and major hospitals. As discussed by Heather Landi, writing for Fierce Healthcare:
Although not a clinical term, “brain fog” describes the lingering mental and cognitive effects felt by people who had COVID-19. Some people report having brain fog for weeks or months after their respiratory symptoms pass.
Boston-based Akili Interactive is collaborating with Weill Cornell Medicine, New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. To evaluate its digital therapeutic, AKL-T01, as a treatment for patients with cognitive dysfunction following COVID-19.
The company develops video game-based digital therapeutics to improve cognitive function. Akili’s flagship product is a prescription digital treatment, AKL-T01, to address inattention in children with ADHD. Akili made headlines last summer when that therapeutic, marketed commercially as EndeavorRx, was cleared for use by the FDA. It was the first prescription video game treatment for children with ADHD. The software provides challenges and stimuli. As such, they target the brain’s neural systems linked to focus, cognitive function, and multitasking.
Akili will work with research teams at each institution for separate randomized, controlled clinical studies. They will evaluate AKL-T01’s ability to target and improve cognitive functioning in COVID-19 survivors with a deficit in cognition. They will begin clinical recruitment in May 2021. According to Akili, there exist no approved treatments for cognitive impairments in COVID-19 survivors,
To learn more, click the image.
Akili Interactive’s digital therapeutic, AKL-T01, which is commercially marketed as EndeavorRx, provides challenges and stimuli that target the brain’s neural systems linked to focus, cognitive function, and multitasking. (Akili Interactive)