While we know the Wii has been injuring its victims, a new study from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine shows that playing the Wii can actually lower depression among the elderly.  A new term coined “exergames,” a combination of fun game play combined with exercise, significantly improved the mood and mental-health of the elderly suffering with Subsyndromal Depression (SSD).

While the study took a very small sample size, the majority of the participants saw a significant improvement.  I’d say that’s enough to replicate the experiment in larger groups.  Here’s to the Wii saving the elderly from their misery.

Three times a week, 19 indviduals from ages 63 to 94 years played one of five Wii Sports games for 35 minutes a session.  As stated earlier, the results saw improvements in nearly all the patients with significant reduction of symptoms in over a third of the sample size.

“The study suggests encouraging results from the use of the exergames,” Jeste said. “More than one-third of the participants had a 50-percent or greater reduction of depressive symptoms. Many had a significant improvement in their mental health-related quality of life and increased cognitive stimulation.”

While some of the studies were a bit nervous about the game, they all reported that once they got the hang of it, they enjoyed learning and playing the game.  It provided a challenge, and they saw progress from their day to day activity.

Source: Science Daily