How Video Games Can Reprogram Your Brain to Think, See, and Hear Better

Rhykker

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Feb 28, 2010
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How Video Games Can Reprogram Your Brain to Think, See, and Hear Better

Video games designed to induce "neural reprogramming" can help improve sight, hearing, and memory - not through acquired skills, but by actually changing your brain.

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Baresark

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Dec 19, 2010
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It's always fun to read about, but their research isn't that groundbreaking. It's been going on for years (C'Mon, Nintendo Brain Age did the same thing), which shows conclusive proof that designing a game or test around certain tasks vastly improves relevant brain functions when trained daily. A university test turned one normal college student (with completely un-extraordinary mental abilities) into someone who can flawlessly memorize a string of 84 (single and double digit) numbers after only seeing them once. The important thing for that was also that his memory improved across the board, not just with number. He kept coming back and improving because it made his college studies easier as time went on.

Plasticity research is amazing, and I'm interested in checking out their game, but what they are doing is simple evolution in Neuroplasticity and not revolution like this article makes it out to be. Not that I'm knocking the writer, I'm not, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea.
 

Alek The Great

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May 24, 2011
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Hmmm it seems it's only out for iOS right now. Time to bust out the old falling apart 3GS I have lying around somewhere, I suppose. (Assuming they support whatever version of iOS Apple supported that phone up to...)

But yeah, this sounds interesting especially in terms of improving senses and not just memory (which there have been countless games for already).
 

Karadalis

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Apr 26, 2011
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I just saw a report on german TV about this being used to heal ADHD... and aparantly it works. Allthought it had less to do with actuall video games and more with brain exercises with a "simple" programm being controlled by... the patients brainwave.

For example moving the picture of a bird across the screen simply by "thinking"... pretty interesting stuff actually.
 

TheMightyMeekling

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Sep 10, 2014
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Karadalis said:
I just saw a report on german TV about this being used to heal ADHD... and aparantly it works. Allthought it had less to do with actuall video games and more with brain exercises with a "simple" programm being controlled by... the patients brainwave.

For example moving the picture of a bird across the screen simply by "thinking"... pretty interesting stuff actually.
I used to attend something exactly like that. I had to make a pacman figure move from left to right. It was pretty annoying and it felt a bit futile, and my ADHD hasn't gone anywhere. Maybe they made improvements to it now.
 

RJ Dalton

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Aug 13, 2009
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I believe it up to a point. If the problem comes from, say, a birth defect where the neural relays from the eyes to the brain are not there or don't connect, probably nothing you can do. But if the problem is in the vision center of the brain? Yeah, I bet you could fix it this way. I've always found it amazing how much the brain can fix itself in the right conditions.