1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000 It seems like video games are just about everywhere. 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:07,000 People have them in their homes, on their computers, and even small handheld versions. 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:14,000 NASA uses simulators, which are similar to video games, to train and help pilots stay focused while flying a plane. 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:19,000 Derived from this research, NASA researchers have incorporated the use of video games 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:23,000 to help treat patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. 6 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:25,000 Linda Beth Bureau explains. 7 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:36,000 Have you ever met someone with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD? 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,000 Chances are that you have. 9 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:43,000 It is estimated that as many as 6% of all Americans suffer from this problem. 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:51,000 Common symptoms of ADHD can include poor attention span, impulsive behavior, and, in some cases, hyperactivity. 11 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:58,000 Currently, drug treatment is the most widely used approach to control the unwanted behavior associated with ADHD. 12 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:05,000 But would you believe that playing video games might help people with ADHD control their behavior? 13 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:11,000 Researchers at NASA Langley Research Center and Eastern Virginia Medical School have been conducting research 14 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:16,000 which shows that the use of a specially adapted video game controller, 15 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:22,000 in conjunction with something called biofeedback, may drastically change the way we treat ADHD. 16 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:29,000 We came up with this idea for a way to treat ADHD in children with our work in flight simulators 17 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:33,000 where we were interested in pilots' attentiveness and how to improve that. 18 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:39,000 We connected their brainwaves to the flight simulator so that it affected how much control they had over the flight simulator. 19 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:44,000 We decided that this might have some usefulness in brainwave biofeedback training, 20 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,000 and we substituted video games for the flight simulator, 21 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:53,000 and that brought the element of motivation, the entertainment value, into biofeedback training. 22 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:59,000 Biofeedback is a treatment technique that teaches patients to train and control normally involuntary body functions, 23 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:03,000 like brainwaves, by using displays of signals from their own bodies. 24 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:10,000 With the aid of a biofeedback machine, patients with ADHD can learn to train the brainwaves that are associated with focusing. 25 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:15,000 Patients train these brainwaves by increasing the strength of high-frequency beta waves 26 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,000 and decreasing the strength of low-frequency theta waves. 27 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:24,000 Practicing these brainwave changes has been shown to lead to an improved ability to pay attention. 28 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,000 These brainwaves can be trained much like an athlete trains his muscles. 29 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,000 For example, when a pitcher throws a ball towards home plate, 30 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:36,000 if he is off the mark, then he must adjust his delivery the next time he throws the ball. 31 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:39,000 Biofeedback training works similarly. 32 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:45,000 If a patient's brainwaves are not on target, then the patient must adjust his brainwaves to meet the desired goal. 33 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:52,000 So, just as the pitcher uses his muscles to adjust his delivery, the patient uses his mind to adjust his brainwaves. 34 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:56,000 Video games offers the element of motivation. 35 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:01,000 They make the training, biofeedback training, entertaining for children. 36 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:08,000 Biofeedback training typically is just showing children displays of their brainwaves and asking them to control that. 37 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,000 What we've done is embedded that in an entertaining, enjoyable activity. 38 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:18,000 This technology works by connecting a child's brainwaves to a video game controller. 39 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:25,000 In the NASA EVMS study, several off-the-shelf video games would link to the biofeedback signal from the patient's brainwaves 40 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:29,000 through the handheld controller that guides the game's action. 41 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,000 When the game was activated, the patient's brainwaves actually became a part of the game. 42 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,000 While a patient is playing a car racing game, for example, 43 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:44,000 the sensors pick up high-frequency beta waves and low-frequency theta waves from the player's brain. 44 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:48,000 If the biofeedback machine reads a higher percentage of theta waves, 45 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:53,000 it sends a signal to the controller which lowers the top speed that the player's car can reach. 46 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:58,000 To increase his top speed, the player must increase his percentage of beta waves. 47 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:04,000 The player learns through trial and error to produce more beta waves and not limit his car's top speed. 48 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:08,000 With enough training, changes in the patient's brain become automatic 49 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:12,000 and can lead to improved attention and behavior all the time. 50 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:16,000 I would like to see this available to people to be able to bring into their home 51 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:21,000 and enjoy the benefits of biofeedback training through entertaining activities. 52 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,000 Home versions of this technology are currently being developed 53 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:29,000 that would incorporate sensors embedded into a helmet to measure players' brainwaves. 54 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,000 If this technique continues to prove to be effective, 55 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:37,000 one day kids may actually have a good excuse to play video games.