Conference Coverage
Video game improved cognition, brain connectivity in MS patients
Key clinical point: Regular use of a brain training video game focusing on attention, processing speed, and working memory led to improvement on...
BOSTON – Brain-training with a video game appears to improve cognitive abilities in multiple sclerosis patients with cognitive impairment by increasing thalamo-cortical connectivity in the brain, according to Dr. Laura De Giglio.
She and her colleagues at Sapienza University of Rome conducted functional MRI scans of patients before and after 8 weeks of using "Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training" video game and compared them against patients who had been assigned to a wait-list group in a small, pilot, randomized study. They found improvements in processing speed and some aspects of working memory that correlated with increased functional connectivity between the thalamus and parts of the cortex.
In a video interview at the joint meeting of the European and Americas Committees for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis, Dr. De Giglio explained the rationale behind the study and how it might be applied further.