A mobile game app has been designed by scientists to help people with schizophrenia cope with their illness.
Cambridge University scientists tested the game app called "Wizard" on a small number of schizophrenia patients and observed improvements in their memory and learning skills, Reuters reported.
"Wizard" was designed especially for iPad and is aimed at improving the patient's "episodic memory," the kind of memory that helps a person remember small things like the spot where the person left the keys.
In the game, developers designed a memory task where a player could be part of the story in which he or she choose a name for the character, and then players will get access to additional activities within the game, as stated in a report from Medical News Today.
Twenty-two participants who suffer from schizophrenia randomly belonged to either the control group who continued with treatment or the group that gets to play the game for eight hours over a period of four weeks.
After the end of the test, researchers assessed the episodic memory of all participants.
In addition, the researchers also looked at each participant's level of enthusiasm and motivation through the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), which is used by medical professionals in assessing an adult's social, psychological and occupational functioning.
The tests revealed that those who played "Wizard" had improved episodic memories compared to the control group and at the same time, got high scores on the GAF scale.
The game players were also found to be more motivated throughout the duration of the study.
The study's co-author, Peter Jones, found the results to be promising and recommends that mobile game apps may be used to help patients improve their episodic memories and perform well in all daily activities.
The results of the study appeared in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.
