Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
Depression involves persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest. A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study explored two video games as possible screening tools to help doctors identify depression more quickly.
The first game involved collecting apples from trees, with yields diminishing after each harvest. Players could choose to stay with the same tree or move to a new one. Participants with moderate to severe depression tended to move to new trees sooner than those without depression, and this timing was closely linked to depression severity.
The second game asked participants to rank snack food items based on their willingness to pay, then changed item combinations to observe ranking changes. Healthy participants adjusted their preferences according to the available choices, while those with depression showed less flexibility in their rankings.
According to Dr. Paul Glimcher of New York University, who co-led the study, these behavioral outcomes may provide insights into brain activity in people with depression. Further research could enable these tests to support quicker depression screening and monitoring in clinics.