Sep 1, 2020
Dr. Adam Gazzaley, founder of Akili Interactive joins us to talk
about the intersection of molecular and experiential treatments for
mental health conditions. Akili is the maker of the first
ever video game to be approved by the FDA as a digital therapeutic
treatment for a clinical condition. We talked about how Adam
and his team figured out how to use video games in this manner, how
they got approval to do so and the science that proves a video game
can help improve cognitive function.
We dig into the future interactions of molecular and experiential
medicine and where his revolutionary treatments can take us as we
learn to leverage technology to help us get better when it comes to
mental health, not tear us down or make us worse which is often how
people think of technology these days.
In addition to his role as Founder of Akili Interactive, Adam is
a co-founder of Jazz Venture Partners, and a professor of
Neurology, Psychiatry and Physiology at UCSF. Dr. Adam
Gazzaley obtained an M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the Mount
Sinai School of Medicine in New York, completed Neurology residency
at the University of Pennsylvania, and postdoctoral training at
University of California, Berkeley.
Links mentioned in the show: Adam on
LinkedIn, https://www.akiliinteractive.com/
Adam’s book: “The
Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World”
Neuroscape at
UCSF, Sensync: The Future
of Wellness
HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE TALKED
ABOUT:
- Adam
Gazzaley joins us to talk about his work in neuroscience and
neurology and how he found his way to the startup world and
ultimately building the first video game, ever approved by the FDA
as a therapeutic treatment (Akili Interactive).
- Adam talks about what drew him into the startup world and
explains how he really did it out of necessity. The solutions his
research was pointing to had not been built and he felt compelled
to create what he felt the world needed.
- Adam tells the founding story of Akili Interactive, a
therapeutic closed-loop video game company. Akili recently obtained
FDA approval for their prescription video game for treating mental
health differences. EndeavorRx is the name of the gaming platform
that was approved by the FDA in June of 2020. Cleared by the
FDA as a class 2 medical device to treat children with ADHD.
- How can a video game be a therapeutic?
Adam explains how experiences have been used to change our brain
for thousands of years and how video games are just another
experience. Because video game experiences are highly
adaptable, and because we now have technology that allows us to
measure how the brain is reacting to experiences, we can craft
experiences in real time to target different cognitive
functions.
Designing and developing a video game as medicine is an entire
process that involves understanding all the complexities of game
mechanics, art, music, the story, etc. and combine that with the
targeting of specific neural systems. Then there’s the Long
slow validation process that takes a lot of time, people, money,
etc. This took a decade to accomplish.
- Is this the first time the FDA has approved a video game as
digital therapeutics?
Yes, this is the first video game of any kind to be approved for
clinical treatment by the FDA.
- Adam explained how a video game actually helps an individual
improve their attention and focus. It works by challenging an
individual to focus their attention on a goal, then rapidly move
their attention to other goals. Adam and his team found this
leads to benefits that could be quantified and later proved that
some of those improvements were in abilities not even directly
challenged in the game.
- We talked about the future, and where this technology can go.
Adam explains that he is incredibly optimistic about a future where
our technology is not tearing us down or being used to make us lazy
or offload us of things that are natural to us, but to really
enhance us.
- Adam is currently doing research on the intersection of
molecular and experiential treatments with a specific focus on
psychedelics. He is studying ways to measure the impact of the
experience (the set and setting) in which psychedelic treatments
are administered. He is using multi-modal biosensing during
treatment sessions to understand the impact of the treatment and
further develop more personalized and precise treatment plans for
individuals.
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