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15 March 2006
Researchers have successfully diagnosed schizophrenia in patients using a virtual reality environment that tests working memory, with an accuracy of 85%.
"The technology made it possible to collect multiple measurements during a complex behavior; including multimodal interactions that pose a high load on working memory," the team explains.
"In addition, the technology allowed us to conduct the experiment as a game and engage the patients in the task, which improved the subjects' concentration and motivation."
Currently, the diagnosis of schizophrenia involves psychiatric evaluation, which relies on symptoms, medical history, interview, and observation. Since each patient manifests different subsets of symptoms, this method is often unreliable.
Believing virtual reality technology to be suitable for studying schizophrenia, Anna Sorkin, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, and colleagues tested its use for measuring cognitive functions in 39 patients with schizophrenia and 21 mentally healthy controls.
The virtual environment was a maze consisting of multiple rooms. Each room had three doors displaying three features – color, shape, and sound. The correct combination of features unlocked the door. The participants therefore had to learn the correct combination and use it in order to enter the next room.
On completion of the task, a performance profile was assigned to each individual, based on various error scores, response time, navigation ability, and strategy.
The researchers found that using performance profiles consisting of four measures – distractor effect, error rate during use of the rule in training, consecutive error rate, and response time – they were able to correctly identify 33 (85%) of the 39 patients with schizophrenia and all of the controls.
"Viewing schizophrenia as a disturbance in integration creates a unified framework in which a unique disintegration profile can be created," say the investigators.
Soren told MedWire News: "We hope that future psychiatrists will describe his/her patients by their disintegration profiles, which will include objective measures of the patient's specific deficiencies, hopefully leading to better treatment and rehabilitation."
She added that integration of virtual reality technology into clinical practice could be a viable and cost-effective option, saying: "Virtual reality equipment is inexpensive in hospital terms, and the major part of the system would be computer software containing the tests and data analysis units."
The researchers note, however, that, as the current technology concentrated on working memory, a wider battery of integrative tests needs to be developed and validated.
Source: Am J Psychiatry 2006; 163: 512–520
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