Gaming Apps Can Help Identify Impact Of Traumatic Brain Injuries, Study Finds

Patients with TBIs are rarely tested for their wayfinding and ability to orient themselves.

According to a recent study, gaming apps may be useful in identifying navigation-related issues caused by traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) that persist in the long term. These issues can be challenging to diagnose and treat because the human ability to navigate is a complex process controlled by a network of mechanisms that involves several cognitive processes in the brain, making it susceptible to damage.

However, despite the significant impact of navigation-related challenges on daily life, patients with TBIs are rarely tested for their wayfinding and ability to orient themselves. Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom decided to test patients' navigational abilities using the mobile game Sea Hero Quest.

The study found that TBIs patients had significant deficits in their navigational abilities that were not previously identified through self-assessment. The results suggest that gaming apps can be a low-cost and efficient way to detect and treat long-term effects of TBIs.

Dr Rebecca Knight, senior lecturer in psychology at the university, stated that using these apps could lead to a large amount of data and greater insights into the mechanisms behind these deficits, creating interventions to better support people managing the long-term effects of their injury.

Originally, Sea Hero Quest was created by game developers Glitchers, with the collaboration of academics and game developers worldwide, to help scientists understand how navigational abilities differ based on age and gender. This study, featured in the journal PLOS ONE, marks the first time the diagnostic tool was utilized on subjects with TBIs.

The researchers hope that their findings will lead to larger-scale studies that will provide a better understanding of the mechanisms involved and potential treatments to improve navigational abilities. This method could make diagnosis and treatment of the long-term effects of TBIs more accessible, efficient, and cost-effective.