A new specialised videogame, developed by Greek scientists and available for free, promises to accurately examine and "save" the brains of middle-aged and older people. How? Called "Virtual Super Market", the game has been developed for touch screens and other platforms and can diagnose whether years later the user will face memory problems, and whether he or she will develop Alzheimer-like forms of dementia. "Given an early diagnosis, we also have the means to slow down the memory loss process," explains Magda Tsolaki, professor of Neurology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Salonica).

The user has to navigate inside the virtual supermarket and buy the items displayed on a shopping list, appearing on the upper right corner of the screen. He or she can move to various locations in the supermarket by touching the green footprints displayed on the screen and can look around the virtual environment by scrolling left and right on the touch screen. Upon purchasing all items of the list he or she must proceed to the cashier and pay using the correct amount.

Exams that deliver similar results are available, but only in specialised research centres, and at a cost of up to around €11,000, explains Prof. Tsolaki, president of the Greek Federation for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders as well as scientific director of the programme "Collaboration" which developed the videogame. These specialised exams include a three-hour long neurological assessment session, an electroencephalogram, Evoked Potential Test, 3T Magnetic Resonance Tomography of the brain, Positron Εmission Tomography (PET) and possibly even an exam of the cerebrospinal fluid.

The development of the Virtual Supermarket videogame is the result of a joint effort by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Information and Communication Technology Institute, and the Greek Association of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders. After the results of the videogame test were published early in 2015 in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, scientists from the USA requested free access to the game's software in order to use it for research purposes.

The research results have confirmed that Virtual Supermarket can be used as a reliable tool for the early detection of mild cognitive disorders. "The correct classification rate is 87.30% of those who will suffer memory decline in the future, compared to healthy people of the same age", according the published findings.

The English version of the game is expected to be launched in August 2015.

The Greek-language version of the videogame can be downloaded for free athttp://www.alzheimer-hellas.gr/public.php?page=53
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The writer is a journalist of Ta Nea, Athens, Greece, and can be contacted at [email protected]