Positive Study Results on Software to Address ADHD Symptoms
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
SAN FRANCISCO, April 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Researchers from Posit Science
Corporation announced results from an initial study of its brain exercises used
by children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The group of
children completing 30 hours of the Posit Science brain exercises showed steady
and significant improvements on the study's primary outcome measure, the ADHD
rating scale (RS IV, a parent-reported symptom severity measure), over the
course of the six-month study period and in the six-month post-study follow-up.
The results were significant both against baseline (within group) and against
the control group, which engaged in 30 hours of video game play. Improvements
were also noted on secondary measures. The significance of these findings were
discussed today in Washington, DC, at the World Bank's Global Mental Health
Summit, by lead investigator Dr. Jyoti Mishra. The results were published this
week in the journal Translational Psychiatry, published by Nature.
"These initial study results are exciting for several reasons," said Dr. Mishra,
Assistant Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of California
San Francisco, and scientist affiliate at the Brain Plasticity Institute of
Posit Science Corporation. "The data indicates that it is feasible to address
ADHD with a non-pharmaceutical intervention, that positive behavioral and
cognitive outcomes can be obtained, that brain exercises specifically designed
for ADHD outperformed the video games used as an active control, and that this
type of new digital therapy can be deployed in low-to-middle income homes with
remote monitoring."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 10 percent
of children are diagnosed with ADHD. Such children display poor performance in
everyday activities requiring attention, memory and goal management skills, and
are at higher risk for failure (and dropout) at school, addiction, criminality
and other negative quality-of-life outcomes.
The paper's authors note that stimulant medications are the standard of care.
Although they show high efficacy in the short term (2-3 months), limitations
from medications include minimal long-term benefit, non-specific amplification
of attention to both important and unimportant information, and accumulation of
drug-related side effects.
The 31-person, double-blind, randomized controlled trial was conducted under the
supervision of Dr. Rajesh Sagar, child psychiatry expert at the All India
Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India. The mean age of participants
was 12 years, and 15 of the 31 children were on medication before and during the
study. Through randomization, 10 children were assigned to a control group using
video games and 21 were assigned to the novel intervention of computerized brain
exercises developed at Posit Science. Children engaged in the intervention or
control activity for a total of 30 hours over a period that extended as long as
six months (at a frequency of 3-5 times per week and 30 minutes per session). A
majority (52%) of children completely adhered to the 30-hour requirement for
brain exercises, while the remainder partially adhered, including ten children
who completed less than half of the 30 hour training (1-13 hours, mean 4.5± 3.6
hours).
In addition to comparing the brain exercise intervention group against an active
(video game) control, researchers compared the two groups to an additional group
of 30 healthy children, without ADHD, drawn from the local community in New
Delhi. Notably, at the six-month follow-up evaluations, there was no significant
difference on the primary outcome measure between the healthy group and the
group that had completed the brain exercises, suggesting renormalization of
behaviors. The group who completed the brain exercises (as compared to the
control group) had effects that were moderate in size and clinically significant
both after training and at the six-month follow-up.
Four secondary cognitive measures were also used. The brain exercise group
significantly improved, as compared to the control, on both the response
inhibition measure and Stroop interference, a measure of executive function. A
trend toward improvement, which did not reach significance, was noted on the two
other secondary measures: sustained attention and short-term memory span. An
additional secondary measure, CGI, a generic measure of mental illness not
specific to ADHD, was not found to be significantly affected by the
intervention.
The brain exercises took a novel approach by focusing on the suppression of
distractors (i.e., background noise) as part of improving focus and attention,
in addition to challenging the user to attend to a target signal, which
progressively becomes more difficult to discriminate. While some of the
exercises were drawn from attention exercises currently included in BrainHQ (the
commercially available online subscription exercise service from Posit Science),
other brain exercises were specifically developed for this trial based on prior
research.
"This is an important step in our research and development program aimed at
bringing medicine-grade digital therapeutics to market, as a separate product
line from our BrainHQ exercises for healthy people of all ages," said Dr. Henry
Mahncke, CEO of Posit Science. "This is the first time software has been shown
to be effective as a digital therapeutic, with clinically significant and
persistent effects, in reducing reported behavioral symptoms of children with
ADHD. Of course, additional research is both required and warranted before
commercial distribution of new therapeutic offerings."
Posit Science exercises and assessments have been shown to have benefits in some
120 peer-reviewed journal articles. Its current flagship commercial offering is
BrainHQ, an online (and in-app) subscription service available to the public,
with dozens of exercises shown in prior studies to improve standard measures of
cognition (e.g., speed, attention, memory, executive function), as well as to
generalize to gains in real-world measures and activities (e.g., health, mood,
IADLs, driving, balance, gait, hearing). Posit Science sells both directly to
consumers and through distribution partnerships with recognized global brands.
Posit Science also has established research alliances with university-based
researchers, foundations, government agencies, pharma and insurance companies.
More information at www.BrainHQ.com
Contact:
Jeff Zimman, Co-Founder
jeff.zimman(at)positscience.com
415-394-3110
Posit Science
160 Pine St., Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94111
This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of
GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Posit Science via GlobeNewswire
[HUG#2003448]
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Datum: 14.04.2016 - 18:00 Uhr
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