Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28052513›Full record

Trial reportDepression and anxiety2017

Improving late life depression and cognitive control through the use of therapeutic video game technology: A proof-of-concept randomized trial.

Joaquin A Anguera, Faith M Gunning, Patricia A Areán

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Depression and anxiety, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02229188 (Games to Overcome Late Life Depression), which is not on this map. Cited by 53 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
53citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
13.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02229188 nacompletednot on this map

Games to Overcome Late Life Depression

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of WashingtonRan2013 to 2018Enrolled30ConditionsMajor Depressive DisorderArmsProblem Solving Therapy, Evolution, Words
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

53 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 117 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  9. Trial
  10. A digital intervention for cognitive deficits following COVID-19: a randomized clinical trial.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024
    Trial
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  16. Review
  17. Psychotherapy for older adults with depression: a narrative review.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Review
  18. Remission is insufficient: predictors and mechanistic models of recurrence in late-life depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Review
  19. Observational
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Joaquin A AngueraDepartment of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Faith M GunningDepartment of Psychiatry, Weil Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Patricia A AreánDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington.
Cornell University · USUniversity of California, San Francisco · USUniversity of Washington · US

Funding

Treating Depression in Low-Income Elderly with CIND/AMCIK24MH074717 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI AREAN, PATRICIA A. · 2005 to 2016
$1.7M
NIMH NIH HHS K24 MH074717
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundExisting treatments for depression are known to have only modest effects, are insufficiently targeted, and are inconsistently utilized, particularly in older adults. Indeed, older adults with impaired cognitive control networks tend to demonstrate poor response to a majority of existing depression interventions. Cognitive control interventions delivered using entertainment software have the potential to not only target the underlying cerebral dysfunction associated with depression, but to do so in a manner that is engaging and engenders adherence to treatment protocol.

methodsIn this proof-of-concept trial (Clinicaltrials.gov #: NCT02229188), individuals with late life depression (LLD) (22; 60+ years old) were randomized to either problem solving therapy (PST, n = 10) or a neurobiologically inspired digital platform designed to enhance cognitive control faculties (Project: EVO™, n = 12). Given the overlapping functional neuroanatomy of mood disturbances and executive dysfunction, we explored the impact of an intervention targeting cognitive control abilities, functional disability, and mood in older adults suffering from LLD, and how those outcomes compare to a therapeutic gold standard.

resultsEVO participants demonstrated similar improvements in mood and self-reported function after 4 weeks of treatment to PST participants. The EVO participants also showed generalization to untrained measures of working memory and attention, as well as negativity bias, a finding not evident in the PST condition. Individuals assigned to EVO demonstrated 100% adherence.

conclusionsThis study provides preliminary findings that this therapeutic video game targeting cognitive control deficits may be an efficacious LLD intervention. Future research is needed to confirm these findings.

Indexed as

Video GamesAgedAgingCognition DisordersDepressive DisorderExecutive FunctionFemaleHumansMaleProblem SolvingProof of Concept StudyTherapy, Computer-Assistedbehavioral therapycognitive controldepressionproblem solving therapyvideo game technology

Identifiers

PMID28052513
PMCPMC6093618
OpenAlexW2564280321

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.