Video Game-Like Activities Help Improve Mental Functioning in Adults with Lupus

Interactive video games designed to sharpen cognitive processes (thinking, reasoning and remembering) can be beneficial for people with lupus, according to new research.

Sixty people with lupus between the ages of 18 and 65 completed the study, half of whom regularly participated in video game-like activities on a tablet for four weeks while the other half (the control group) did not. At the end of the four weeks, those who engaged with the video game demonstrated notable improvements in several different thinking skills compared to those who had not played the games.

The video game-players saw improvements in the following areas:

• Visuomotor speed – the time between seeing a visual prompt and physically reacting to it (e.g., seeing a light and then pressing a button)
• Cognitive flexibility – the ability to switch between thinking about two different concepts or to think about multiple concepts at the same time
• Cognitive sequencing – the ability to carry out a set of actions that follow a particular order
• Multitasking – the performance of more than one task at a time

Participants also reported that they enjoyed the games, even though two out of three said they rarely or never played video games prior to the study.

Many people with lupus experience “brain fog” or “lupus fog” – cognitive symptoms, like having a hard time thinking clearly or remembering things. The latest findings suggest that certain video game-based activities may help. Learn more about lupus and brain fog.

Read the study