Virtual Reality Therapy Can Improve Learning For Children With ADHD

 Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder have numerous challenges with attention, organization, and impulse control and studies have shown this is because the prefrontal cortex takes longer to mature. The cerebellum is also thought to be smaller, which is the part of the brain that controls motor response inhibition, such as staying seated in class. (Faith Wilkins, 2023) The ability to pay attention is essential for learning and when this is impacted by too much disruption it affects everything in life from social, academic, to employment. Endeavor RX is using Virtual Reality technology to impact brain activity to enhance learning and after scientific study, was given approval by the Food and Drug Administration in June 2020. (Endeavor RX, 2020)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.akiliinteractive.t01a

Apple https://apps.apple.com/us/app/endeavorotc/id6447322997?platform=iphone

 Breakthrough Treatment

According to Adam Gazzaley, the best way to harness the brain’s plasticity and improve attention is through immersive experiences. Adam invented the video game Neuro Racer, to boost attention and impulse control for children and youth with ADHD. After a placebo-controlled trial, Adam’s virtual reality game was approved by the FDA as a medical device, with thirty minutes as a designated dose. (Ross, 2023) An innovative treatment that does not involve drugs is now available through a smartphone app, in which thirty minutes a day of game time is a prescribed treatment for ADHD. FDA approval generally means insurance reimbursement will follow.

 Scientific Review

In 2022, a U.S. study on the use of virtual reality technology to help children and youth with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder was published in Digital Health. (Zangiacomi A, 2022) The same study is referenced in the National Institute of Health, PubMed Central. (An immersive virtual reality-based application for treating ADHD: A remote evaluation of acceptance and usability, 2022) The use of a video game as a tool to help the ADHD brain organize and function better is a new treatment for children and youth.Study participants used the VR game tool virtually due to Covid restrictions, rather than in a controlled environment. Results showed the technology was helpful as a therapy for those with ADHD. Ease of use with the technology was deemed suitable for children aged six years and up.   Twenty clinical experts reviewed the study findings to arrive at these conclusions, which had a high degree of statistical validity. Another benefit of the virtual reality program was improved quantifiability of behavioral testing over traditional measures.

Findings

1.  VR demonstrated clinical value as a tool to improve cognition through increased attention and control of impulsivity

 2. VR can also be useful in identifying attention deficit disorders

3. VR Technology was found to treat some symptoms of ADHD better than Pharmacology

 A concern cited in the study was the lack of device customization by child, since there is so much variability in attention deficit disorder symptoms and severity.

 Global View

A systematic review of scientific studies analyzing Virtual Reality interventions on children with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder from the International Cochrane Library for statistical efficacy was published in January 2021. The meta-analysis reviewed four studies and included 125 participants who were children. Here are the findings: (Romero-Ayuso, 2021)

Findings

VR-based interventions were found:

1. Effective in improving sustained attention

2. Improve vigilance measures and increase the number of correct responses

3. Decrease the number of omissions

4. No improvements were observed in impulsivity responses

 A systematic review and metanalysis of Virtual Reality technology to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder was shown to improve memory in children with ADHD, similar or better than pharmacological treatments. However, the VR-intervention does not have the metabolic side affects of ADHD drugs, which include weight loss, ticks, insomnia, depression, and more. Further studies are needed on the long term affects, but this is a breakthrough treatment for this neurodevelopmental disorder! Response by parents should be thunderous applause. Treatment of learning and behavioral problems can happen without drugs. As someone who struggled with medications for my own son’s ADHD, compliance and dosage were always concerns and it would have been wonderful to have something he would have embraced and I daresay, enjoy as a treatment.

 And this is the healthpolicymaven signing off encouraging you not to sign blanket release forms when consenting to inpatient medical procedures, do stipulate that for which you agree and decline. Roberta Winter is an independent healthcare journalist who accepts no money from any healthcare sector to publish this column. She is the 2013 author of a guidebook to the US healthcare system, which is still in print. https://www.amazon.com/Unraveling-U-S-Health-Care-Personal/dp/1442222972

 

References

An immersive virtual reality-based application for treating ADHD: A remote evaluation of acceptance and usability. (2022). National Library of Medicine, 8. doi:PMC9747881

Endeavor RX. (2020, April 16). Denovo Classification Request for Endeavor RX. Retrieved from Food and Drug Administration: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/reviews/DEN200026.pdf

Faith Wilkins, A. N. (2023, May 2). How Is the ADHD Brain Different? Retrieved September 25, 2023, from Child Mind.org: https://childmind.org/article/how-is-the-adhd-brain-different/#full_article

Romero-Ayuso, D. &.-G.-M.-V.-F. (2021). Effectiveness of Virtual Reality-Based Interventions for Children and Adolescents with ADHD: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Children, 18-70. doi:10.3390/children8020070.

Ross, S. M. (2023). Your Brain on Art How Art Transforms Us. In S. M. Ross, Your Brain on Art How Art Transforms Us (pp. 154-157). New York : Random House.

Zangiacomi A, F. V. (2022). An immersive virtual reality-based application for treating ADHD: A remote evaluation of acceptance and usability. Digital Health, 10. doi: doi:10.1177/20552076221143242, 8.