打游戏有助于精神分裂症患者

People with schizophrenia can be trained by playing a video game to control the part of the brain linked to verbal hallucinations, researchers say.

研究人员说，精神分裂症患者可以通过玩视频游戏来控制大脑中与言语幻觉有关的部分。

Patients in a small study were able to land a rocket in the game when it was connected to the brain region sensitive to speech and human voices.

在这一项小型研究中，当该游戏连接到对言语和人类声音敏感的大脑区域时，患者能够在游戏中让火箭着陆。

In time, the patients learnt to use the technique in their daily lives to reduce the power of hallucinations.

随着时间的推移，病人学会在日常生活中使用这种技术来减少幻觉的力量。

But this is a small pilot study and the findings still need to be confirmed.

但是这是一个小型的试点研究，这个发现还有待证实。

The research team, from King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and the University of Roehampton, says the technique could be used to help schizophrenia patients who do not respond to medication.

来自伦敦国王学院精神病学，心理学和神经科学研究所和罗汉普顿大学的研究小组表示，该技术可用于帮助对药物无反应的精神分裂症患者。

People with the condition are known to have a more active auditory cortex, which means they are more sensitive to sounds and voices.

已知患有该病症的人具有更活跃的听觉皮层，这意味着他们对声音和声音更敏感。

All 12 patients in the study experienced nasty and threatening verbal hallucinations every day - a common symptom of schizophrenia.

研究中的所有12名患者每天都经历了令人讨厌和威胁的言语幻觉 - 这是精神分裂症的常见症状。

To try to control their symptoms, they were asked to play a video game while in an MRI scanner, using their own mental strategies to move a computerised rocket - and in doing so they were able to turn down the volume on the external voices they heard as well.

为了控制他们的症状，他们被要求在MRI扫描仪中玩视频游戏，用他们自己的心理策略来移动电脑火箭 - 这样他们就可以降低他们听到的外部声音的音量。

Dr Natasza Orlov, from King’s College London, said: "The patients know when the voices are about to start - they can feel it, so we want them to immediately put this aid into effect to lessen them, or stop the voices completely."

来自伦敦国王学院的Natasza Orlov博士表示：“患者知道什么时候声音即将开始 - 他们能感觉到，所以我们希望他们立即实施这种援助，以减轻他们的压力，或者完全停止声音。 ”

She said all the patients in the study, who each had four turns in the MRI scanner, found that their voices became less external and more internal, making them less stressful. They were also better able to cope with them.

她说，研究中的所有患者都经过4轮MRI扫描仪试验，发现他们的声音变得更少的外在而更多的内在，使他们的压力减轻。他们也能更好地对付这些声音。

Dr Orlov added: "Although the study sample size is small and we lacked a control group, these results are promising.

Orlov博士补充说：“虽然研究样本量很小，我们缺乏对照组，但这些结果是有希望的。

"We are now planning to conduct a randomised controlled study to test this technique in a larger sample."

“我们现在计划进行一项随机对照研究，以更大的样本测试这种技术。”

Prof Sukhi Shergill from King’s, and a consultant psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, said the research offered "a novel approach" for helping patients.

国王学院的Sukhi Shergill教授和南伦敦和莫斯利NHS基金会的顾问精神病学家表示，这项研究为帮助患者提供了一种“新颖的方法”。

"While this is preliminary data, it’s particularly promising that patients were able to control their brain activity even without the MRI scanning - suggesting that this may be a strategy that people, who have followed the MRI neuro-feedback training protocol, can benefit from at home."

“虽然这只是初步数据，但是特别有希望的是患者即使没有进行MRI扫描也能够控制他们的大脑活动 - 这表明这可能是一种策略，那些遵循MRI神经反馈训练方案的人可以从家中获益。”

The study was published in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

该研究发表在《转化精神病学》杂志上。