Overall findings provide further support for the use of VR cognitive training applications in neuropsychological rehabilitation. Implications for Rehabilitation Improvements in memory and attention functions following a virtual reality-based serious games intervention. Training of daily-life activities using a virtual reality application. Accessibility to training contents.

Background The consequences of alcohol dependence are severe and may range from physical disease to neuropsychological deficits in several cognitive domains. Alcohol abuse has also been related to brain dysfunction specifically in the prefrontal cortex. Conventional neuropsychological interventions (paper-and-pencil cognitive stimulation training) have a positive effect but are time-consuming, costly, and not motivating for patients. Objective Our goal was to test the cognitive effects of a novel approach to neuropsychological intervention, using mobile technology and serious games, on patients with alcohol dependence. Methods The trial design consisted of a two-arm study assessing the cognitive outcomes of neuropsychological intervention with mobile serious games (mHealth) versus control (treatment-as-usual with no neuropsychological intervention) in patients undergoing treatment for alcohol dependence syndrome. Sixty-eight patients were recruited from an alcohol-rehab clinic and randomly assigned to the mHealth (n=33) or control condition (n=35). The intervention on the experimental group consisted of a therapist-assisted cognitive stimulation therapy for 4 weeks on a 2-3 days/week basis. Results Fourteen patients dropped out of the study. The results of the neuropsychological assessments with the remaining 54 patients showed an overall increase ( P <.05) of general cognitive abilities, mental flexibility, psychomotor processing speed, and attentional ability in both experimental (n=26) and control groups (n=28). However, there was a more pronounced improvement ( P =.01) specifically in frontal lobe functions from baseline (mean 13.89, SE 0.58) to follow-up (mean 15.50, SE 0.46) in the experimental group but not in the control group. Conclusions The overall increase in general cognitive function for both experimental and control groups supports the beneficial role of existing alcohol treatment protocols aimed at minimizing withdrawal symptoms, but the differential improvements observed in frontal lobe functioning supports the use of mobile serious games for neuropsychological stimulation to overcome executive dysfunction in patients with alcohol dependence. This trial was negative on two neuropsychological/cognitive tests, and positive on one. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01942954; http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01942954 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6OYDqHLwB).

Around 25,000 war veterans in Portugal suffer posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This clinically controlled study evaluates virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) as an alternative procedure to reduce PTSD symptoms. Ten patients were assigned to three groups: VRET, exposure in imagination (EI), and waiting list (WL). The patients were Portuguese veterans from a series of wars fought in former African colonies more than 30 years ago. While the EI group participated in traditional imagination therapy, the VRET group was exposed to a virtual reality (VR) war scenario. Cues such as ambush, mortar blasting, and waiting for rescue were used in the VR. Patients enrolled in the VRET group showed statistical reduction of PTSD-associated disorders like depression and anxiety. Far from being conclusive, this pilot study nonetheless presents some promising data on the use of VRET on old war veteran populations.

This study aims at assessing an online portal where patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) can carry on memory and attention exercises outside clinic premises. The training took place in a virtual reality (VR) setup where one TBI patient had to complete a set of 10 online VR sessions. The neuropsychological evaluation was carried out with the PASAT (Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task) at pre-, during and post-treatment assessments. The results showed an increase in working memory and attention levels from the fi rst to the fi nal assessment, which can suggest that VR applications may promote the autonomy and increase in overall quality of life of these patients. The average time for task conclusion was 5 min.

As the demographic structure in western societies ages, the prevalence and impact of cognitive decline rises. Thus, new solutions to tackle this problem are required. The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)-based cognitive exercises has emerged in the last few decades, though with inconsistent results. Hence, we conducted a pre-post treatment study to further investigate this approach. We designed a set of virtual reality exercises that mimic activities of daily living by which the patient can train different cognitive domains. Twenty-five participants, ages 65-85, underwent 12 training sessions between the pre-treatment and post-treatment assessments. Significant increases were seen between the two assessments for some of the neuropsychological measures: visual memory, attention, and cognitive flexibility. Results also suggest that participants with lower baseline cognitive performance levels improved most after these sessions.