Study Shows That Playing Games Help to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease

Dementia and Alzheimer’s are the diagnoses that flip the world upside down, not just for the individual with dementia but also for their family. Study shows that even a noisy environment can give you an Alzheimer’s disease. Those who are impacted lose their ability to prepare ahead, recall details, and act accordingly. Their motor functions also deteriorate at the same time. In the end, dementia patients cannot manage everyday tasks on their own and need intensive treatment. 

So far, the efforts made to find a cure for this condition have been failed. Alzheimer’s disease, the most prevalent of several types of dementia, remains to be incurable. However, a recent research study conducted in Belgium has demonstrated for the first time that cognitive-motor therapy increases both cognitive and physical abilities in dementia patients with severe cognitive impairment.

Researchers have found a correlation between playing games and Alzheimer’s disease. It shows that the researchers used a fitness game known as “Exergame” developed by ETH Zurich spin-off Dividat in a study.

In 2015, a group of researchers discovered that older people who exercise both their bodies and minds simultaneously have a greater cognitive function and can therefore avoid cognitive dysfunction. However, only stable people were included in this analysis. For the report, the researchers enlisted the support of 45 volunteers. The participants were residents of two Belgian nursing homes, all of whom were over the age of 85 at the time of the study and had extreme dementia symptoms.

All participants’ physical, emotional, and mental capacities were assessed during the eight-week training program and compared to the start of the study. The findings provide hope to dementia patients and their families. By using this machine improved cognitive skills, including focus, concentrating, memory, and orientation.

The researchers were able to test beneficial impacts on physical capabilities, such as response speed and cognitive capacity, through playing games. The subjects in the training group responded much faster after just eight weeks, while the control group worsened.

This is promising because the intensity at which older people react to impulses is a key factor in deciding whether or not they can stop falling. De Bruin’s research team is actively focused on replicating the findings of this pilot project for individuals who have moderate cognitive dysfunction, which is a pathway to dementia and their aim is to use MRI scans to look at the neuronal pathways in the brain that are responsible for cognitive and physical development.