Playing the brain game

3 October 2005

Could playing a computer game help children to concentrate in school? It sounds unlikely, but new research shows that kids who practised using a game controlled with brain waves learned to develop better ways of thinking.

Antenna investigates.
The experiment took place at a London primary school for children with learning and attention difficulties. Scientists tested the children's ability to concentrate by watching their brain waves - electrical patterns made by the brain that change as we think in different ways.

Melissa Foks, learning specialist

Image: Melissa Foks

To measure the electrical activity in the cortex (the outer layer of the brain that has billions of interconnecting brain cells), two electrodes were clipped to the child's ears and one to his or her scalp. A researcher watched the different types of brain wave on a screen and monitored their balance.
Lots of theta waves mean you're drowsy, low to medium frequency beta waves are good for calm, focused attention and flexibility, while lots of high frequency beta waves mean you're excited or anxious.

Brain waves show how the brain is thinking.

Image: Melissa Foks

'When your brain finds the right balance of all three frequencies simultaneously, then you have success with the game - your character goes round the maze, eating dots, making beeps and getting points.'
Melissa Foks, learning specialist

A game in progress...

Image: Melissa Foks

The experiment was done every week over two terms, and in time the children learned to get better at the game by focusing their attention for longer.
The treatment could help children who find it difficult to concentrate on tasks. Around 3 per cent of children in the UK are thought to have an attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), caused by a chemical imbalance in the front part of the brain that controls attention, decision-making and concentration.
Increasing numbers of children with ADHD are given stimulant drugs to help speed up their brain waves and so balance the chemicals in their brain. Many parents are concerned about using drugs to change their children's behaviour, and the medication only offers a temporary solution to the problem.

In 1996 there were 24 times more prescriptions for stimulant drugs than in 1990.

It's still early days, but as using this neurofeedback system teaches children to use their brains in a more effective way, it could offer a long-lasting alternative to stimulant drugs.
Could neurofeedback help everyone?

'Research at Imperial College revealed that undergraduates were able to improve memory by 10 per cent after a small number of sessions. This approach could end up being routinely used to enhance people's cognition and memory.'
Melissa Foks
.