VIDEO GAME HAS BENEFITS ON BRAIN FUNCTIONS IN CANCER PATIENTS

Posted on November 3, 2009 by Jeffrey Newman

The results of a study, presented at the 10th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine, showed that playing the video game
Re-Mission (TM), specifically designed for young adults with chronic illness, has a broad impact on specific brain functions. Several key regions of the brain are activated when patients play the game, including neural structures relating to emotion and motivation, learning and memory. The game was developed in collaboration between HopeLab and video game developers, cancer experts, psychologists. Research shows it has positive impacts on health behaviors of young people with chronic illness. Specifically, it improves treatment adherence and increases self-efficacy. Data from the study can be found in the August 2008 medical journal PEDIATRICS. The general idea of customizing video games to engage and develop specific parts of the brain is under significant scrutiny under the mantle of “Serious Games.” However, the main line gaming industry, primarily producing shootem up, blowem-up crunch them games, has not found a niche here yet. I say yet because I believe there will soon be a wholesale recognition that games can be both entertaining and relevant to advancing our society. See Rev Rants video in the video block on this site for more and better thoughts on this concept. He is (or should be) considered a guru on this topic.