Despite all this research regarding medicinal ways to reduce
neurodegenerative diseases, this research shows an alternative, more
unconventional method. Video games have
been shown to reduce cognitive degeneration in the elderly. In addition to the improvement of cognitive
function, video games also helped to improve the maintenance of “self-concept”
and quality of life. Though there’s
often a negative stigma attached to video games, what many don’t realize is the
amount of mental coordination required to play and that by stimulating the
brain, it may help prevent the brain from “wasting” away. By keeping the brain active, we are
essentially keeping our brain in shape, which could perhaps be a great
supplementation to the other therapies that exist to combat neurodegeneration. This research paper only provides a brief
overview of the methods and results (must pay for the full text), however, the
concept seems sound. What are your
thoughts on this form of therapy?
This is an intriguing idea since it seems that the modern world is heavily affected by video games and its industry. I found it interesting that in the conclusions summary of the age the authors claimed, "the results show that the use of video games leads to the improvement of cognitive functioning in the elderly and to the maintenance of self-concept and quality of life." However, in the results summary they mentioned, "The quality of life test did not show any differences." This made me question the validity or worth of this remedy for neurodegenerative dieseases.
ReplyDeleteI wish I was able to view the whole article without paying because I think it is vital to know the mean age of the eldery patients involved in the study. The reason I say that because considering an elderly person with cognitive problems, I would think that quality of life is a character that an elderly patient would value highly and possibly the most. If the video games remedy doesn't improve this aspect I don't think that as of now it should be implemented as valid form of therapy.
However, I do think this concept in terms of the mental activity enhancement it brings forth, should be researched more for younger people. Video games are a considerably more popular activity among youth and teenagers. I would be interested to see studies that analyze the correlation between an individual playing video games regularly in their youth and their likelihood of developing cognitive problems/diseases in the latter time frame of life.
I thought this idea was interesting as well. Like many others, I thought video games were a waste of time and money. I always felt like there could be something more beneficial and worthwhile you could be doing rather than waste hours starring at a screen and pushing buttons. As mentioned in class, any form of mental stimulation such as learning new skills would be a good way to decrease the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. I feel like learning to play a new instrument, taking up a new sport, or playing chess would increase mental activity and be more beneficial. However, I can see how mental coordination and strategic thinking can be involved with playing video games, depending on the game. There are always new games coming out with different challenges that you can think and strategize through. I think playing video games can be helpful in increasing mental activity, as long as you don’t build an addition toward them like so many young people. I agree with Collin that is important to know which age group this study is directed toward. Results would be different if young people were playing video games as oppose to teaching older people how to play video games. I also think it would be interesting to see the effects of young people and video games and the influence it has in developing neurodegenerative disease later on in life. I definitely think there should be more research done on this subject.
ReplyDeleteBeing an avid gamer, I had always expected video games to hold some sort of place in protecting against brain degeneration. Contrary to popular non-gamer belief, video games don't consist of staring at a blank screen, mindlessly pressing buttons. It takes hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and oftentimes (incredibly strenuous) puzzle solving. That all being said, actively playing video games requires brain activity; sometimes a large amount of it. However, the issue that I have with this article is that it really shouldn't focus specifically on video games. Although video games can require much mental activity, they really should have added other sorts of activities into the experiment because I find it difficult to believe that video games specifically have the special ability to help prevent against brain degeneration. I would have liked to have seen other activities, such as learning to juggle, learning a new language put, and/or (as Anny mentioned) learning/playing an instrument against the other variables in this study. I feel that it's really the amount of brain activity occurring in the individual that is helping to prevent brain degeneration.
ReplyDeleteI feel that it would be very interesting to see subjects doing a variety of different activities (both in the study and that I mentioned above), while hooked up to an EEG and then we might be able to see some sort of (quantifiable) trend between brain activity and brain degeneration. The physiological occurrence is what is most important here, rather than the mean of acquiring that physiological occurrence. Especially because the amount of brain activity with each physical activity will vary between individuals. For example: Some people can pick up an instrument much easier than another individual. Therefore, there is likely a difference in brain activity between those two individuals when it comes to learning this instrument.
I could see some really interesting research coming out of these sorts of studies.
I like the idea of using video games to combat the development of neurodegenerative diseases. It would be interesting to see which types of video games were most effective. For example are games like Call of Duty more effective than say Rock Band or the other way around. I think this would be an interesting study which would help improve possible treatments because we know what works best. I think it would also be interesting to compare playing video games with other activities such as doing a cross word or playing cards. I guess my real question is whether or not it is really the video games or is it the brain exercise that is helping?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this discussion in class, and I agreed with Dr. Cohen that learning complicated tasks might help slow down the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. In my opinion it is harder for certain groups to grasp the newer concepts of technology. I wonder if the key to this is learning something new and challenging, learning strategies, or both. I agree with Julia it would be quite interesting to see how video games would compare to activities such as cross words etc. I think that video games are fast paced, and require a lot of focus, strategy, and coordination. All these challenges at once might be exercising the brain more than say a card game.
ReplyDeleteI think that if playing video games is a way to prevent neurodegenerative diseases, then it would make a very good form of therapy. I always hear commercials about some sort of program where you play mind games and it helps prevent these types of diseases and makes your brain stronger, but a lot of these programs don't seem too appealing because they are learning games. For most people, video games are a lot more fun and would be more enjoyable than playing word games or doing math. For that reason, I feel like more people would be willing to do the therapy if it means they get to play games and have fun at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a really interesting therapy. I remember in my classics class in which we were talking about Roman architecture and houses, there was this professor who taught his students through video games and they learned better this way because they were immersed. Although it is a bit different about the research that you talked about, it seems that video games are a good way to learn and keep the brain active.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I wonder if the learning process is something that wards of the neurodegenerative process. If it is the learning process, would playing the same video games over and over do much? Or would the elderly have to continuously learn different games in order to keep their brain in tip top shape? For me, I do play some video games and after playing it for awhile, I tend to just mindlessly press buttons. If the elderly were just mindlessly pressing buttons as I do, I don't think that it would help them. They should continue with this research and see if learning more than one game over a period of time is more beneficial than just learning one and sticking with that one game.
I agree that video games can be mentally taxing. It really does take a large amount of coordination and strategic thinking to excel at certain games. After a long gaming session my brain literally feels exhausted, just as my muscles would after a strenuous workout session. With that being said, what I’m really curious about is whether the act of playing video games is what “strengthens” the brain or is it the actual process of learning something new. Most elderly aren’t familiar with video games and perhaps it is the introduction of the video game that’s stimulating positive brain function. Similar to working out, whenever a new form of exercise is attempted, the body has to adapt and thus encouraging muscle growth. I’m not even sure if this brain-muscle analogy is valid, but so far it seems as if this is the case. Thanks everyone for your input on this, I didn’t think that a post about video games would prompt this much discussion.
ReplyDeleteI really think this is an interesting concept. I agree for the most part that it can stimulate the different parts of the brain and also keep it from wasting away. I would really like to see more research to see what type of video games might have a more significant impact. I also think that certain types of video games can be considered as therapy for patients suffering from some type of dementia. I would like to see this be more incorporated into helping patients with neurodegenerative diseases. I personally think the more interesting aspect of this study would be to see what parts of the brain are put more into use while playing video games and how can this help with our daily activities.
ReplyDeleteI liked your idea about seeing which parts of the brain are active during video-game playing Benita. If we could compare the brain active sites of neuro-disease patients to normal patients while both are playing video-games, we may be able to develop new treatments and understand the mechanisms behind the brain's flexibility and compensation abilities.
ReplyDeleteIf we see that different areas of the neuro-patients' brains are active compared to the control the different sites could be how the brain changes to deal with damage for the disease. If video-games due in fact show a valid treatment because it helps to stimulate the brain, we could look at the areas that are being stimulated and see if there are other activities or drugs that stimulate these areas better. Interesting topic, there is still so much we don't know about the brain.