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Building Focus Through Fun
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Most parents fret when their child
stays glued to a video game or computer for hours, and they fret for good
reason. The gaming industry has been built on violence and frenzied action. In
one of the most popular games, Grand Theft Auto, players tear drivers
out of their cars to mug them, and run over pedestrians. What if electronic games could help
children with attention deficit disorder (ADD ADHD) increase focus for tasks
that they find boring? They might. Parents, therapists, and
educators can choose from several new games and devices on the market that may
train distracted children or adults to pay more attention. Some connect the
user's brain to the home computer through high-tech sensors and allow the
person to control the action on the screen, not with a fast finger or a
keyboard but with his brain waves. Call it joystick neurofeedback. Using this method to improve
concentration isn't a new idea. Therapists have used the technology for
decades. Some games trace their development to National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) technology that measures the brain waves of pilots as
they use flight simulators. Today, experts in psychology and technology are
finding new ways to link the brain with a computer, and manufacturers are
creating software and equipment designed for home users. Manufacturers and experts agree that
the games are only a tool to train a child to pay attention in distracted
children, not a treatment for AD/HD. Medication and behavior therapy is the
gold standard for improving symptoms of the condition. "The games have the
potential to increase attention stamina," says Rohn Kessler, Ph.D., of ADDitude screened a few of the more intriguing games. Here's what we
found. Captain's
LogAhoy! With Captain's Log, you can become
the captain of your own brain, instead of letting impulses and distractions
take you off course. Therapists and educators have used
Captain's Log to help children and adults with AD/HD and other cognitive
challenges since 1985. The software is now used in all 50 states and 23 foreign
countries, according to the manufacturer, BrainTrain of Richmond, Virginia. BrainTrain calls Captain's Log a
"computerized mental gym," which works with any standard
computer-control device, like a mouse or a keyboard, or with a joystick or game
controller. With more than 30 "brain-training" games and exercises,
Captain's Log offers a variety of options for helping some students improve
concentration, memory, and self-control. HOW IT WORKS: A child or adult chooses which games he wants to play based
on his needs, whether it be improving his inattention or controlling impulsive
tendencies. Once the user punches in his preference, a game pops up on the
screen. You might be required to match two cards from memory or two similarly
colored animals. The pace and length of the games are varied, and visual and
audio distractions are thrown in to increase the challenge. The program
advances to the next level automatically when the student has mastered the
previous level. Captain's Log generates detailed reports so that professionals
or parents can trace a student's progress, and it produces certificates as
rewards for students as they improve. Captain's Log developer Joseph
Sandford, a psychologist with a computer programming background, originally
created the software to help patients who had traumatic brain injury.
Therapists soon realized that it may increase attention in people with AD/HD. For more information, log on to braintrain.com. A trial
version of the software is available. Play
Attention Peter Freer was frustrated in trying
to help his students overcome attention problems. Combining his teaching
experience with his background in educational technology, Freer created Play
Attention, a system that enables children and adults with AD/HD to connect
their brain waves directly to a home computer to hone their ability to stay
focused. "They can actually see what's
happening to their brain waves as it occurs," says Freer, CEO of Unique
Logic + Technology, the HOW IT WORKS: The user puts on a helmet embedded with sensors and learns
to control the action on the screen with his brain waves. Focusing on a flying
bird causes it to fly higher; distraction causes the bird to fly lower. Another
exercise enables a person to work on his long-range focus by building a tower
with moving blocks. A challenging exercise involves sitting at the controls of
a spaceship, deflecting the white asteroids that are flying toward it. This
helps develop discriminatory processing and impulse control. While a teacher, therapist, or coach
can only describe what focus feels like to someone with AD/HD, Play Attention
lets the user experience what being attentive actually feels like. A student can even play the game
while doing homework. Wearing the helmet and choosing, say, the plane game, the
student can do an assignment and gauge his attention level by looking at the
plane's flight pattern. For more information, log on to playattention.com. A
demonstration disk is available. SmartDriver Sitting behind the wheel of a car
can be a dangerous place for someone with impulsive or inattentive behavior,
especially a teenage driver without much experience. SmartDriver helps any
driver, or future driver, with focus problems to keep his thoughts on the road.
The game works with or without a
steering wheel for computer driving simulators. "The kids love SmartDriver
because they get to drive," says Joseph Sandford, who created the game.
Unlike the typical driving video game, SmartDriver requires patience and
responsibility, not a love of hairpin turns. "There are stretches where
you have to stay under the speed limit." HOW IT WORKS: The game isn't a driving simulator - you "drive"
the car from outside of the car as in a typical video game, not from inside it
- but you must follow the rules of the road and heed speed limits, traffic
lights, and other vehicles. Like Captain's Log, SmartDriver adds enough lights
and sounds to keep a young user interested. For more information, log on to braintrain.com. A trial
version of the software is available. S.M.A.R.T.
BrainGames Instead of designing games for
building concentration skills, the S.M.A.R.T BrainGames system converts any
home video or computer game into a neurofeedback device. Using new technology developed by
NASA, the S.M.A.R.T. ("Self Mastery and Regulation Training")
BrainGames system includes a state-of-the-art, wireless, handheld game
controller. It looks and works like any other game controller, with one
exception - it receives brain wave signals from a headset worn by the player. HOW IT WORKS: The headset tracks the frequency of the user's brain waves
while he plays. When the player exhibits low-frequency patterns during, say, a
car race at the track, his car slows and other cars pass him. That gets his
attention, so he concentrates, producing higher-frequency brain waves. His car
then speeds up - positive reinforcement for his cerebral change. The idea is
that the higher-frequency pattern will continue even after kids stop playing
the game. NASA's tests of the technology
showed that it works about as well as traditional biofeedback equipment used in
clinics, but with an important twist - children like it better. "The main difference we see
between the groups is motivation - the children in the video game group enjoy
the sessions more, and it's easier for parents to get them to come to our
clinic," said Olafur Palsson, Ph.D., of Eastern Virginia Medical School in
Richmond, a co-inventor of the NASA system. It may also encourage children to
play G-rated video games, which work best with the system, says Lindsay Greco,
a vice president at CyberLearning Technologies. "The games that don't work
well are the shoot-'em-up, blood-and-guts kind, because there is poor forward
motion," says Greco. Games that involve steady motion, like driving a car
or flying an airplane, work best. For more information, log on to smartbraingames.com. Copyright © 1998 - 2007 New Hope Media LLC. All rights
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