Stop preconceived ideas: video games are not reserved for children, and do not especially stupefy their audience! Researchers at the University of Kent (in Great Britain) are even considering using some of the most popular phone games – Candy Crush, Tetris and Fruit Ninja – to detect early signs of cognitive decline in older people …
British researchers – who presented their work this Thursday, September 12, 2019 on the occasion of the scientific meeting UbiComp in London – worked with a group of 21 healthy adults: they first took “classic” cognitive tests (on paper) and then had 10 minutes of smartphone play.
Playing to assess your brain is possible!
Results ? The researchers were able to establish a “very clear” link between the cognitive performances of the participants and their capacity to make the best use of the games offered. Scientists believe that these games (chosen to be easy and quick to understand) test participants’ visual memory, visuospatial abilities, attention and “flexibility” of mind.
Phone games would therefore constitute interesting tools for early detection of cognitive decline in seniors, but also for monitoring the cognitive capacities of patients with Alzheimer’s disease or schizophrenia, or who have suffered a stroke. .
“Phone games are not faster or more efficient than ‘classic’ cognitive tests but could allow better patient involvement and, using specific algorithms, could be modified to measure a specific parameter of cognition “conclude the specialists.
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