German researchers gave Super Mario Odyssey to people experiencing Major Depressive Disorder(MDD) to investigate if they could benefit from playing 3D video games. Read on to learn about the study and more.
Super Mario Odyssey Was Used to Treat People With Depression
Playing 3D Video Games To Address Cognitive Deficits Associated With Depression
German researchers from the University of Bonn in Bonn, Germany conducted a study of the potential effects of playing 3D video games for people who suffer from Major Depressive Disorder(MDD). They define the two broad categories of the human mind, where cognitive is “how we know the world,” and affective is “how we feel about the world.” They speak of how most treatments for MDD only tackle the “affective” category, and that there is a clear lack of research on the cognitive deficiency caused by MDD. The two go hand-in-hand, as prior research states that “cognition can affect emotional well-being and, conversely, that altered emotional well-being can also affect cognition.”
From this, they set out to conduct an experiment utilizing video games to stimulate cognitive function, specifically to improve depressed moods, training motivation, and visuo-spatial (working) memory functions with those suffering from MDD. They chose a “3D platform game” in Super Mario Odyssey on the Nintendo Switch, as it “requires participants to navigate within 3D environments while relying on processes that depend on the hippocampus and thus potentially influence performance on hippocampally mediated memory tasks, specifically visuo-spatial memory.”
Results Showed a Significant Improvement in Cognitive Function
46 participants were separated into three different control groups, where one group played the 3D video game, one group utilized “CogPack,” a cognitive training program, and the last group was given the standard clinical MDD treatment. Tests were conducted over a 6-week period, where results were drawn at the end of each gaming, CogPack, and clinical session.
The final results of the experiments showed a significant decrease of symptoms in depression in the 3D video game group, where the percentage of symptoms almost halved. Those who played Super Mario Odyssey also reported higher motivation than the other control groups. However, for visuo-spatial memory and the other memory tests, the 3D video game group did not show any notable improvement. The authors discuss their results:
“These findings suggest that the addition of video game training to regular treatment including psychotherapy and/or pharmacological treatment can lead to reductions in depressive symptoms.” They continue by saying that “the results suggest that video game training may be a useful adjunctive treatment option for reducing depression in patients with MDD.”
An Imperfect Study Necessary for Future Major Strides
Though the results seem to be satisfactory, there are a few caveats to the overall experiment. It was not a blind study, meaning participants were aware of their own control groups and privy to the experiment being performed upon them. This knowledge could lead to biases from all three groups, which could potentially lead to a skewing of results, as some aspects of the tests were self-reports from the participants themselves.
The experiment was also merely conducted over a brief 6-week period, and there were no observations held for the long-term effects after the experiments. MDD treatment is slow, gradual, and extended over long periods, making sure patients adjust and adapt to medication and therapy over its course. A short 6-week window of being allowed to play video games might have only provided a short stunt of growth with no lasting effects.
Lastly, the control groups performed were only a small sample size, where only 14 out of the 46 participants were exposed to the gaming treatment. Extensive research on a bigger population and wider demographics is needed to safely assume a more solid conclusion.
The researchers themselves understand the paper’s limitations and state it within their conclusion.
“However, given the mixed and unblinded nature of this study, the results should be interpreted with caution. Further research with larger samples and follow-up measurements is needed.”
All of this was not in vain. This fragile study could catch the eye of other better-suited and well-funded institutes that will be interested in supporting further research. Though faulty to an extent, this experiment still found significant results. It would be only a matter of refining all other aspects to properly reach a breakthrough when it comes to utilizing video games to treat depression.
Sources:
Study:Effects of a video game intervention on symptoms, training motivation, and visuo-spatial memory in depression
PsyPost:Cognitive trainings using video games might increase subjective well-being of individuals with depression
