Title: Chess as a cognitive enhancement tool in the healthy and in mental health disorders: A systematic review.

Review

Title: Chess as a cognitive enhancement tool in the healthy and in mental health disorders: A systematic review.

Maria Rodrigo-Yanguas

, Fernand Gobet

and Hilario Blasco-Fontecilla

*

1 Department of Psychiatry, Puerta de Hierro University Hospital Majadahonda (HUPHM)-IDIPHIPSA, Majadahonda, Spain; [email protected] (M.R.)

2 Autonoma University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain; [email protected] (H.B.)

3 Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK;

[email protected] (F.G.)

4 Biomedical Research Centre in Mental Health Net (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain

5. ITA Mental Health, Madrid, Spain

* Correspondence: [email protected] or [email protected]; Tel.: (+34- 911916019)

Abstract: Chess is a millenary game with simple rules, but high cognitive load.

We aimed to review the use of chess as a cognitive enhancing tool in patients with some mental disorders and the underlying cognitive mechanisms and neural structures that may mediate such a therapeutic role. We conducted a systematic review of all the available literature published between January 1900 and March 2020. The PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews were followed.

The PubMed, PsycInfo, and Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.es/, first 10 pages) databases were searched. The following eligibility criteria were used: 1) human subjects; 2) English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese languages; 3) not duplicates; 4) designs: narrative texts and letters to the editor, case reports, pilot studies, descriptive and analytical observational studies, quasi-experiments, other experimental designs with pre-posttest measures, trials (randomized or not), and meta-analyses. 49 studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies related to health suggested promising results for using chess as a therapeutic tool in some mental disorders. The most replicated finding is the potential use of chess in ADHD and dementia. Overall, chess is a promising cognitive tool for remediation in mental health disorders. However, more robust studies (i.e., clinical trials) are needed.

Keywords: Chess, cognitive rehabilitation, cognitive training, executive functions, mental disorders.