ADHD treatment now includes playing a video game called 'Project: EVO'

• comments
• 
• 

A game developer is aiming to discover an alternative means of treating kids with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. Researchers hope that this would one day replace or be offered in combination with medicines.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, ADHD commonly occurs in kids but can also continue throughout the individual's teenage and adult years. Some of the more well-known signs of having ADHD include having difficulty paying attention, controlling certain behaviors and being overactive.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that the number of children being diagnosed with ADHD has steadily increased over the years. As of 2011, an estimated 11 percent of children between the ages of 4 and 17 years of age have been diagnosed with this particular disorder.

Akili Interactive Labs developed Project EVO, a game designed to enhance the child's attention span, memory and ability to solve problems says Reuters. Results showed that playing the video game for 30 minutes a day provided better results than taking a pill.

The pilot study included 80 kids aged between eight and 12 years, half of which had ADHD. Subjects who had ADHD were not taking any medication during the trial says Mobi Health News.

Mobi Health News' report indicates that researchers from Duke University School of Medicine, Florida Clinical Research Center and SUNY Upstate Medical University were involved in recruiting the kids.

To play the game, players need to control the character's movements down a river. Players must also make decisions on what to do with specific objects that pop up during the game, Reuters adds.

Business Wire says the subjects were asked to play the game on a tablet at home for half an hour a day, five days a week for a period of four weeks. Some of the main objectives were to see if it was possible to conduct the ADHD treatment at home and if such a treatment would improve the child's attention, memory and reduce impulsiveness.

Scott Kollins, a psychiatry professor and ADHD Program Director at Duke University School of Medicine told Business Wire, "While results are preliminary, these data provide a strong rationale for continued work to develop this novel, digital intervention for ADHD."

According to Reuters, Akili Interactive Labs plans to organize a larger clinical trial. If the results are positive, they intend to file for FDA approval.

Shire is one of the principal manufacturers of ADHD drugs. Last year, approximately 63 million prescriptions for ADHD were filled up in the United States, with kids requiring of the prescriptions, Reuters adds.