The study involved 75 individuals, who were separated into three groups. One group played “Decoder”, while another group played the game “Bingo” over the same time period. The third group didn’t play a game at all. There were then assessment studies designed to measure the attention and concentration of participants, where those who had played “Decoder” scored much higher than the other groups.
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A co-author of the study, and research associate at Cambridge University, George Savulich, said that he hoped that the app would help as many individuals as possible. Specifically, he stated: “We hope that the game will be beneficial for patients who have impairments in attention, including those with ADHD or traumatic brain injury. We plan to start a study with traumatic brain injury patients this year.”
For those wondering more about the nature of the app, the user is meant to tap the screen when they spot certain patterns. Many point to the fact that social media has made it so that less individuals – especially children – can concentrate and focus – and that Decoder could then potentially help with millions around the world. The app has been licensed to a developer by the name of Peak, and is available for free currently on the Itunes App Store. Professor Barbara Sahakian, from Cambridge’s University of Psychiatry, pointed out that researchers will conduct a study with a new aim soon, stating: “We plan on starting a study with traumatic brain injury patients this year.”
