Gaming ‘better than medication’ in treating elderly depression

Computer games could help in treating older people with depression who haven’t responded to antidepressant drugs or other treatments for the disorder, according to a small-scale US study. Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York found playing certain computer games was “just as effective” at reducing symptoms of depression as the ‘gold standard’ anti-depressant drug Lexapro (escitalopram) for 11 older patients. The patients playing the computer games also achieved improved executive functions in four weeks, compared to the average of 12 weeks it takes for anti-depressants to effect the same neurological changes. Executive functions are the thinking skills