"Brain Training" App May Improve Memory and Daily Functioning in Schizophrenia
From: Medical Design Technology - 08/03/2015

A "brain training" iPad game developed and tested by researchers at the
University of Cambridge may improve the memory of patients with
schizophrenia, helping them in their daily lives at work and living
independently.

In a study published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
B, a team of researchers led by Professor Barbara Sahakian from the
Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge describe how they developed and tested
Wizard, an iPad game aimed at improving an individual's episodic memory.
Episodic memory is the type of memory required when you have to remember
where you parked your car in a multi-story car park after going shopping for
several hours or where you left your keys in home several hours ago, for
example. It is one of the facets of cognitive functioning to be affected in
patients with schizophrenia.

The game, Wizard, was the result of a nine-month collaboration between
psychologists, neuroscientists, a professional game-developer and people with
schizophrenia. It was intended to be fun, attention-grabbing, motivating and
easy to understand, whilst at the same time improving the player’s episodic
memory. The memory task was woven into a narrative in which the player was
allowed to choose their own character and name; the game rewarded progress
with additional in-game activities to provide the user with a sense of
progression independent of the cognitive training process.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2015/08/brain-training-app-may-improve-memory-and-daily-functioning-schizophrenia
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/brain-training-app-may-improve-memory-and-daily-functioning-in-schizophrenia

Links:
The impact of neuroscience on society: cognitive enhancement in
  neuropsychiatric disorders and in healthy people
http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/370/1677/20140214

Barbara Sahakian
http://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/directory/profile.php?Barbara