Adam Gazzaley and Parneet Pal, Chief Science Officer of Wisdom Labs, discuss the challenges of the modern world for our ancient brains, how to become aware of, and overcome, the interference of distraction and multitasking, and the new era of digital medicine. Conversation includes: The critical elements of what it means to be human, ethical design of technology, the cascading effect of cognitive challenges, and harnessing neuroplasticity through experience to develop stronger brains…
The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World by Adam Gazzaley (Amazon link)
Akili, the business end of Gazzaley’s research aims to build ‘experiential treatments’, delivered through video games, “…as medicine–as prescribable, reimbursable medicine, right up there with pharmaceuticals”. The patent is not for a video game, the patent is for a game engine… Akili now has a dozen studies going on across multiple clinical conditions. From Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to Traumatic Brain Injury to anxiety to Autism, depression, early Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis… The study which has garnered the most attention was the completion of our Phase 3 trial for Pediatric ADHD… What was shown was that we were able to significantly, with a reasonable effect size, improve attention ability in children with ADHD. Now advancing an application to the FDA for their class 2 medical device for the treatment of inattention in children with ADHD.
If we’re successful, it will be the first non-drug treatment for ADHD. The first prescribable video game, and the first of a new category of medicine that we think of as digital medicine, to treat a host of different conditions of the mind.
