That videogames have so many positive effects on the brain activity of the human being, for example, in memory, is as well known that they constitute one of the forms of leisure (and even a professional outlet) with greater adoption in the 21st century.

The research team of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience of King's College London and the University of Roehampton have carried out a study, published by the journal Translational Psychiatry , from which very positive conclusions can be drawn about the impact that video games have in people with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric diagnosis suffered by people with a group of chronic mental disorders, often characterized by behaviors that are anomalous for the community, such as lack of perception of reality or alteration of it.

The researchers say that " the technique could be used to help patients with schizophrenia who do not respond to medications ." In this way, people with schizophrenia can train by playing a video game to control the part of the brain related to verbal hallucinations.

The study, which has involved 12 patients who experience unpleasant verbal hallucinations and a threatening tone every day (a common symptom of schizophrenia), tries to control these symptoms by means of a video game consisting of landing a rocket, while a scanner MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is connected to the region of the brain sensitive to speech and human voices. Thus, using their own mental strategies to move the rocket, patients were able to control the symptoms and decrease the volume of "external voices" they heard.

The experiment of landing the rocket in the game while the region of the brain sensitive to speech and human voices remained connected was a huge learning experience for the patients. In this way, they learned to use the technique in their daily life, thus reducing the power of hallucinations. In any case, it is still a pilot study , which has left very good sensations and significant advances, but whose findings have yet to be confirmed in the medium and long term.

Professor Sukhi Shergill , of King's, has exposed and stressed that the research offers "a novel approach" to help patients. "While it is preliminary data, it is especially promising that patients can control their brain activity even without MRI, suggesting that this may be a strategy that people who have followed the MRI brain- training protocol can live in. your own home. "

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