September 30, 2024
Discover Why Mental Health Experts Are Betting on Virtual Reality to Combat ADHD, Depression, and More.
Welcome to the Mushroom Rise Podcast, where we explore cutting-edge insights into mental health, wellness, and cognitive science. Today, we’re thrilled to have Amir Bozorgzadeh, co-founder and CEO of Virtual Leap, a groundbreaking startup that combines virtual reality technology with neuroscience to tackle the global mental health crisis. In our conversation, Amir shares his predictions on the coming “cognition crisis,” discusses the unique benefits VR can offer for cognitive health, and reveals how his team is using VR to build tools that could transform mental health care and even daily cognitive assessments. From ADHD to Alzheimer’s screening, Amir’s work is paving the way for new solutions to complex challenges.
If you’re curious about the future of mental health technology, this episode is packed with insights. So sit back, relax, and get ready to dive deep into a fascinating world where VR meets cognitive science.
Amir Bozorgzadeh: No one is controlling this. And so what's gonna happen is there's gonna be huge spikes in the next five years. I believe we're about to fall into a very deep, deep cognition crisis globally. You can see in China, for example, they're already limiting gameplay usage of their youth. The demographics of China is very different than a lot of other markets where the elderly are outnumbering children, like in India, like in Europe, like in Japan. In China, it's more still the youth population that has the highest impact on their economy. And depression is skyrocketing because of these types of these game mechanisms messing up with our dopamine systems.
Govind Nair: Right.
Amir Bozorgzadeh: So they're limiting things. That won't happen in the Western world, right? So we're about to hit a cognition crisis. I'm predicting for you on this podcast, in five years, we won't say who has ADHD. We'll be asking who doesn't.
Alex: You.
Govind Nair: Hi, I'm Govind Nair and welcome to the Mushroom Rise Podcast, where we discuss various facets of nutrition, health, and fitness using science as a guide. Our world is going through a mental health crisis. Many of us have faced mental health issues or we definitely know someone who has. The question then is, what do we do about this?
Are there any scientifically valid solutions for this problem? Well, today we are lucky to have with us Amir Bozorgzadeh, who is the founder and CEO of Virtual Leap, a very innovative startup which stands at the forefront of combining virtual reality technology with neuroscience to address the growing cognitive health challenges. Prior to Virtual Leap, Amir founded and ran a game publishing company and also a social impact startup. He's also a very good tech writer and communicator, having written for blogs like VentureBeat and TechCrunch. Amir Bozorgzadeh, welcome to the Mushroom Rise Podcast.
Amir Bozorgzadeh: Thank you for having me, Govind. It's nice to be on a podcast with such a creative name. I have a lot of thoughts about In-N-Out itself.
Govind Nair: Glad you liked it. So to get the podcast started, I will start with something that you get asked a lot, I believe. That is, so you have a background in the gaming industry before and you've done some other things. But what I would like to know is, could you tell us your journey? What led you to Virtual Leap?
Amir Bozorgzadeh: Sure. So as you say, my background was quite in the game publishing industry for quite some time. And at a certain point, I had experienced a virtual reality experience that unexpectedly helped me cure my fear of heights, my vertigo. That kind of, yeah, it spellbound me from that moment on.
It radically changed my career trajectory into becoming a writer for tech blogs like VentureBeat and TechCrunch, canvassing all the use cases I could understand about virtual reality for the sole purpose of figuring out where my place could be. About three, four years into it, I discovered, I mean, my conclusions were that this technology, it serves a critical use case when it comes to educational and healthcare, wellness sorts of applications. And I personally don't like it for anything other than something that can help us transcend space and time. And that's really the essence of the company I created, Virtual Leap.
Govind Nair: That sounds great. Yeah, thank you for that. That's like a real experience. Like when you experience something and you do that and you feel like, wow, this is like something I did not expect. And then you see the benefits and you're like, wow. So you had a firsthand experience with VR and it actually helped your vertigo. So that's like, I mean, like you saw it helping you, right? So based on that.
What can you say is like, like there are many other, you know, tools which like right now what you do is like your, the basis of your company is like you want to help, you know, like brain health, right? Mental health. And what do you say is like, there are many other apps doing that as well. So what sets VR apart? Why VR is the question.
Amir Bozorgzadeh: Virtual reality, what makes it stand apart is that it's literally digital sorcery. It's kind of like when we wonder about lie detector tests. There's certain things that are physiological in us that says the truth even if we maybe want to lie.
Govind Nair: Right.
Amir Bozorgzadeh: And there's something physiologically deep within us that is separate to that conscious part of us that knows, for example, I'm in my living room and that part of us, I believe the nonverbal sides of us, the parts of the animal nature of us. It's quite clear to me that in a virtual reality environment, that part actually thinks the experience is real. And it doesn't like, why don’t.
Amir Bozorgzadeh: Yeah, the sensory, a lot of our chemistry is controlled by something that's nonverbal and it is not, by nonverbal I mean the part of me that's talking like, you know, right now and has a story of what my name is and I have a historical background, all these, like, abstractions that one part of me has. There's another part that's much more hardwired to my physiology that, for instance,
Why does my knees buckle and shake in that virtual reality experience? Why does that serve as a therapeutic environment in a safe, controlled way where my knees are literally showing me that I am having a visceral reaction to something that is digital, it's not real, and yet that part of me believes it is real. It’s digital sorcery, hijacking the human system from head to toe, inside out, that can be used for that reason.
for so many applications that I believe first and foremost should be therapeutic focused. Priority should be to helping us with cognitive disorders and illnesses such as Virtual Leap is focused on as a niche, but also for all sorts of applications like agoraphobia, fear of people, use a creative.
train experience and start off with like an open space and then start to control the environment by including more and more people all the way to sardines, people like packed in that, you know, that area. And exposure therapy can be done in VR with nothing else able to do that as an alternative.
Govind Nair: Right. The way you put it as “digital sorcery” really captures it, and I remember actually from cognitive psychology there are experiments where researchers can just tell which option the participant is going to go for before they actually do it, just by measuring physiological cues. You must have software integrated to...
Amir Bozorgzadeh: Mm-hmm.
Govind Nair: ...measure all these changes, like why the knees are buckling, the physiological changes in a person. I mean, that raises some ethical questions, which we’ll get to down the line. But I want to ask about your focus on cognitive health. You want to modulate the brain for mental health and cognitive improvement. Does that connect to neuroplasticity? How does being in VR affect neuroplasticity?
Amir Bozorgzadeh: You know, experience affects neuroplasticity, right? I go travel to Mumbai and have the culture shock I did just a few weeks ago for the first time, and that experience has an effect on my neuroplasticity, at least in the short term, because it’s a multi-layered, multi-sensory experience in which my animal, mammalian, and emotional sides are all participating in that experience. So there's an impact.
If I leave Mumbai and go back to my normal environment, then soon enough, my neuroplasticity reverts. So experience is the key—repetitive experiences that touch upon as many sides of me as possible for long enough can make neuroplasticity semi-permanent. Virtual reality is an ecologically valid digital experience that’s completely embodied. So my physical side is participating, emotionally participating, mentally. And this engages all dimensions of the human experience. Whether that’s treating a phobia, ADHD, long COVID, or stroke rehabilitation, the embodied digital experience of VR can serve therapeutic purposes across many areas.
Govind Nair: I can imagine. It's like when you get a cultural shock visiting a place, that experience leaves a lasting impact. So VR can offer similar powerful experiences in a controlled, therapeutic setting. What sets Virtual Leap apart from other companies offering brain training or cognitive fitness apps?
Amir Bozorgzadeh: What sets us apart is that we focus on scientific validation and partnerships with research institutions. A lot of brain training products out there have a bad reputation because companies make claims without clinical evidence. I’d rather sleep at night knowing I'm not a charlatan. Brain training, which is the category our flagship product fits into, has stigma because of those unsubstantiated claims. We're committed to clinical evidence and validation.
Govind Nair: Many things to pick on there, but I just want to comment—you said you're a masochist. Do you think you’ll use VR to enhance that masochism or maybe tone it down?
Amir Bozorgzadeh: Well, you know, it's funny you say that because I’m not very popular in the VR sector. I talk about VR as valuable for educational and healthcare purposes, not for escapism like killing zombies or other immersive distractions. Digital formats have already harmed our ability to concentrate and engage with reality. Even LinkedIn is mimicking TikTok’s dopamine-hijacking mechanisms. And studies show that these mechanisms deteriorate our sustained attention skills, which directly impacts our emotional and mental well-being. We’re focused on counteracting that and rebuilding sustained attention muscles.
Govind Nair: That’s actually very important. And it’s known—companies have psychologists on their teams to design features that keep people engaged, even if it harms their mental health. They know what they’re doing.
Amir Bozorgzadeh: Exactly. These companies are “eating our young,” as the saying goes. I believe in capitalism and innovation, but some of these executives, well, I hope they don’t have kids, or at least that they don’t experience the consequences of what they’re creating. The system is accelerating this damage, and no one is really controlling it.
Amir Bozorgzadeh:
In the next five years, we’re going to see a massive cognitive crisis. I predict that we’ll reach a point where we don’t ask who has ADHD—we’ll be asking who doesn’t. Depression and other mental health disorders are already skyrocketing as a result of these dopamine-hijacking mechanisms. And it’s not slowing down. China is already limiting gameplay time for young people because they recognize this problem, but that’s not likely to happen in the Western world. So we’re on a crash course for a global cognition crisis.
Govind Nair:
That’s a pretty grim picture, but honestly, it’s totally imaginable. Even today, everyone seems to know someone who’s struggling with mental health. We’re seeing this crisis unfold in real time. But let's talk about solutions—your product, Enhance VR, seems to be positioned to help with this. How does Virtual Leap’s approach address the current mental health challenges?
Amir Bozorgzadeh:
Enhance VR, our flagship product, is like a gym for the mind. It's designed to help users understand and improve their cognitive strengths and weaknesses. While we have a lot of clinical applications for therapeutic use, we’re also focused on helping people without clinical diagnoses understand their cognitive profile. It provides a cognitive “fingerprint,” showing areas like problem-solving skills, spatial orientation, information processing, and memory.
We have 15 games in the Enhance VR library, each targeting different cognitive skills. Users can go at their own pace, so it’s accessible to anyone who wants to train their brain. But we’re not stopping there. We’re also launching a second product called CogniClear VR. This is a screening tool that medical professionals can use to assess mild cognitive impairment. It’s a 30-minute examination that provides an in-depth report to the doctor on the cognitive health of the patient, looking for early signs of conditions like Alzheimer's.
Govind Nair:
That’s incredible, especially the idea of using VR as a screening tool for cognitive health. Can you walk us through what a session looks like for a patient? Is it more like a game or a structured test?
Amir Bozorgzadeh:
With Enhance VR, users have a library of 15 games they can explore at their own pace. Each game targets different cognitive functions, and users can complete as many or as few as they want in one session. It’s a flexible tool for anyone looking to train their cognitive skills.
CogniClear VR, on the other hand, is a structured test that a user completes from start to finish in a single 30-minute session. It consists of 14 different tests, each examining a specific area of cognition—problem-solving, information processing, memory, etc. While it’s not exactly “gamified” like the Enhance VR activities, it’s designed to be engaging enough to maintain the user’s attention throughout. We’ve used a “spoonful of sugar” approach to make it as enjoyable as possible, but it’s ultimately a serious tool intended for clinical use.
Govind Nair:
Right, that sounds perfect for clinical environments, where you want to maintain engagement without straying from the seriousness of the test. I can imagine VR being used in education too, especially for kids to learn about their cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Is that an area Virtual Leap is interested in exploring?
Amir Bozorgzadeh:
Absolutely. Education is an area with huge potential for VR. Schools could use tools like Enhance VR to help students discover their cognitive strengths and weaknesses early on, which could guide their academic and career paths. But for now, we’re focused primarily on the clinical side, partnering with hospitals, clinics, and research institutions.
We’re already working with some research partners to test VR applications in educational settings, but for Virtual Leap, clinical applications are the priority right now. Of course, if schools or educational organizations are interested in collaborating, we’re open to partnerships. But with our limited resources, we have to focus on the area that has the most urgent need—mental health and cognitive health.
Govind Nair:
That makes sense. There’s so much potential here, from helping people with ADHD and PTSD to athletes and even astronauts training for high-stress environments. What’s the roadmap for Virtual Leap moving forward? What are you focusing on next?
Amir Bozorgzadeh:
Our laser focus right now is ADHD, particularly in young people. We’re seeing more and more devastating effects of digital overuse on sustained attention and emotional regulation. Our goal with Virtual Leap is to counteract that by strengthening attention and cognitive resilience.
We’re also committed to expanding our clinical partnerships and growing our clinical evidence base. Right now, we’re working with research teams across Europe, Asia, the U.S., and the U.K. to conduct studies on conditions like ADHD, mild cognitive impairment, autism, and other cognitive disorders. We want to make sure that our products are backed by robust clinical data, so they can be taken seriously in the medical community.
In the long term, we’d love to see Enhance VR and CogniClear VR become as common as annual physical check-ups. Imagine a world where people routinely get cognitive check-ups and have the tools to manage their cognitive health proactively. That’s the vision we’re working toward.
Govind Nair:
That’s a powerful vision, and it could be life-changing for so many people. Thank you for sharing that, and thank you for your dedication. It’s inspiring to see someone so committed to making a positive impact in the world of cognitive health.
Amir Bozorgzadeh:
Thank you, Govind. It’s been a pleasure to talk with someone who really gets it. The more we collaborate and communicate, the stronger we make these bonds between technology, science, and health. We’re all in this together, and it’s conversations like this that help us move forward.
Govind Nair:
Absolutely. Thank you for joining us today, Amir. I know our listeners will have gained so much from your insights, and I’m sure many will be inspired by what you and Virtual Leap are doing.
Govind Nair:
I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Amir Bozorgzadeh as much as I did. Not only did we cover a ton of fascinating topics, but we also got a glimpse into a truly innovative approach to mental health and cognitive wellness. Amir and his team at Virtual Leap are on a mission to make a positive impact, and their dedication to scientific validation and clinical partnerships is commendable.
Stay tuned for more conversations with experts who are changing the landscape of health and wellness. Until next time, stay healthy, stay wise, and take a moment to check in with your cognitive well-being. Remember, there are tools out there to help you unlock your full potential, and it all starts with understanding yourself. See you next time on the Mushroom Rise Podcast.
