Nation’s First Prescription for Gamified Cognitive Training Issued in Zhejiang, Tencent’s Digital Therapy Product Enters Clinical Stage

On December 11, Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine issued the nation’s first electronic prescription for gamified cognitive training to a 59-year-old patient with mild cognitive impairment. Under the guidance of a doctor from the rehabilitation medicine department, the patient completed their first non-pharmaceutical cognitive training session using “Tencent Brain Exercise,” Tencent’s first digital therapy software approved for medical device registration. “I never imagined rehabilitation training could be ‘playing games’—it’s completely different from what I expected,” the patient remarked after the session.

The product received medical device registration approval from the Guangdong Provincial Medical Products Administration in May this year. The issuance of this prescription marks a breakthrough in the clinical application of gamified digital therapy for cognitive impairment intervention in China.

Rigorous Process Ensures Efficacy, Gamified Design Enhances Compliance
“Prescribing such training requires a standardized process, including initial outpatient screening, professional assessment, prescription formulation, training implementation, and follow-up visits,” explained Zhang Haifeng, Director of the Rehabilitation Medicine Department at Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Doctors must regularly monitor patient training data through backend systems and dynamically adjust treatment plans based on outcomes, typically including personalized settings such as training frequency, session duration, and key modules.

Huang Shuwei, Vice President of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, emphasized that the innovation of gamified cognitive training lies in addressing the drawbacks of traditional rehabilitation methods—often perceived as monotonous and difficult to sustain—thereby shifting the paradigm from “passive treatment” to “active health management.” The immediate feedback and incentive mechanisms of gamification effectively enhance patient compliance and confidence in training.

Addressing the Needs of 38.77 Million Patients, Digital Therapy Offers Innovative Pathways
According to the Chinese Expert Consensus on Cognitive Digital Therapy (2023), approximately 38.77 million people aged 60 and above in China suffer from mild cognitive impairment, with a prevalence rate of 15.5%. Without timely intervention, over 38% of these patients may develop irreversible Alzheimer’s disease within five years.
“Early detection and intervention are crucial for maintaining brain health in the elderly,” stressed Zheng Tingting, a neurology expert and Deputy Director of the Research Department at Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Currently, non-pharmaceutical interventions are the primary approach for mild cognitive impairment, with gamified digital therapy emerging as a key focus of domestic and international research. Studies published in journals such as Nature have highlighted the positive potential of gamified cognitive training in slowing brain decline.

Three Years of R&D, Four Modules Integrated into Daily Life Scenarios
Developed over three years of research and practical experience in elderly cognitive impairment prevention, “Tencent Brain Exercise” breaks away from traditional repetitive training models by integrating six cognitive domains—including perceptual-motor skills, executive function, and learning memory—into four gamified modules based on daily life scenarios:

Culinary Competition: Trains divided attention and emotional cognition through food preparation and facial expression recognition.

Music Challenge: Enhances perceptual-motor skills and working memory through rhythm identification and instrument recognition.

Organization Master: Strengthens cue recall and planning abilities through memory-based sorting and categorization.

Poetry Contest: Combines traditional culture to train immediate memory and language expression skills.

Each theme includes over 150 progressive levels, coupled with immediate feedback and reward mechanisms, making cognitive training more engaging and sustainable.

Building a Full-Cycle Support System: “Awareness-Screening-Intervention”
Tencent has long focused on cognitive health among the elderly, developing a product matrix that covers the entire cognitive impairment cycle: the awareness-focused game Room 301, Building 6, the screening tool Silver Brain Power, the all-ages cognitive assessment game Pavlov’s Busy, and the now clinically implemented “Tencent Brain Exercise.” Over the past year, Tencent’s Gaming for Social Value Center has conducted in-depth research in communities across Shenzhen and Shanghai, with plans to continue launching gamified products promoting proactive health management for the elderly.

With the issuance of the first medical prescription, gamified digital therapy demonstrates significant potential in the intervention of mild cognitive impairment. The dual advancement of technological integration and clinical validation is poised to provide innovative solutions for brain health protection in China.