Posted on 04/17/2022 5:47:00 AM PDT by BenLurkin
The neurologist said Pam Stevens' cognitive impairment couldn't be treated. After suffering a stroke in 2014, the 79-year-old wasn't responding to medication. She and her husband, Pete Stevens, were told to give up hope.
"On two separate occasions, over a two-year period, the neurologist said there was nothing we could do," said Pete Stevens. "He said 'just take her home and be prepared that she's gonna die.'"
But he refused to accept that grim prognosis. He was willing to try anything — including an experimental video game therapy — to restore Pam's brain.
After a referral from her psychiatrist, the Stevenses finally made it to Sarah Shizuko Morimoto and her lab at the University of Utah. Morimoto's work focuses on cognitive disorders, especially those related to aging brains such as geriatric depression and mental decline.
Morimoto's gardening video game is designed to target and enhance the functioning of neural circuitry. Their hope is that an aging brain, when exposed to the program, would eventually respond better to medication like anti-depressants.
Video games distract, amuse, and inspire. But Morimoto's research asks the question: Can they heal?
Neurogrow isn't a blockbuster video game like Call of Duty or Animal Crossing. It has a rudimentary design that eschews cutting-edge graphics and elaborate storytelling for tasks that challenge an aging brain's memory or reaction time. Someone playing Neurogrow might be presented with a specific color flower and be challenged to water it with the correct watering can before time runs out. For a brain unaffected by cognitive impairment, this task would most likely prove easy, but the memorization and timing can be demanding for patients like Pam Stevens.
"When you want a certain part of the brain activated," says Morimoto, "you use something similar to problems in a game. When someone solves a problem, a certain part of the brain lights up. So we started there and gamified those tasks."
According to Morimoto, her team's games aren't supposed to hook you. In fact, Neurogrow isn't much fun at all.
"My games are designed to do something completely different to your brain," she said. "They are not designed so that you want to keep playing or spend more money on it. The things we are asking patients to do are pretty hard and pretty boring, which is exactly the thing that's so hard for them."
It's more exercise regimen than play. When Pete Stevens would drive Pam home after her Neurogrow sessions, he noticed how much it exhausted her.
But Pam's hard work paid off. After completing several sessions over four months, Pete and her doctors noticed positive changes in Pam's behavior; She was more social, more conversational, and Pete even mentioned that Pam was reading a book on dialectical behavior therapy before our interview call.
Other researchers thought Morimoto was out of her mind. Video games as a treatment for depression? Unheard of, especially in the elderly, whose brains have gone through normal deterioration as a part of aging.
But the federal government thought otherwise. Morimoto and her team received a $7.5 million grant from the National Mental Health Institute to conduct clinical trials for Neurogrow.
Neurogrow isn't the only game that claims to treat brain health. EndeavorRx is a video game designed to treat ADHD in children. It looks like a cross between the popular app Subway Surfers and Mario Kart. Developed by Akili Interactive, in 2020 the FDA allowed it to be marketed as a treatment for inattention in kids with ADHD.
While the FDA's blessing seems like the ultimate stamp of approval for a medical device, some researchers are skeptical. Speaking to The Washington Post, Russell Barkley, a clinical psychologist and researcher, called the game a "marketing ploy."
"The effects [of the game] just don't generalize," Barkley said. "You get better at playing the game and anything similar to playing the game."
Rather than improve, for instance, a student's test scores or reading comprehension, these critics say a child using EndeavorRx would only get better at playing games similar to it like the aforementioned Subway Surfers or Temple Run.
But Eddie Martucci, CEO of Akili Interactive, says he can point to tangible results.
"I think the reason there is skepticism, and there's a good reason for it, is that people have been burned by marketing gimmicks, especially in digital health and neuroscience," said Martucci.
"Over time, skepticism has dramatically decreased as we continue to research and show data."
It's not easy deciphering whether or not games like Neurogrow or EndeavorRx work or have long-term benefits. Researchers aren't always keen to divulge their findings, especially if it would reveal game mechanics that could be copied. But without outside verification, it's hard to tell if so-called medical video games have merit.
"We don't get to see the research surrounding it," said Anthony Bean, a clinical psychologist and video game researcher. "Sometimes the data looks muddled when we can see it, but we're also really in the dark with a convenient sample that they have created to verify their game."
But Neurogrow patients like Pam Stevens aren't waiting on independent researchers to give the thumbs up. Neither are investors — Akili Interactive went public and merged with Social Capital Suvretta Holdings Corp., injecting the EndeavorRx developer with about $412 million in gross proceeds.
ping
Based on the game, they can enhance strategic thinking, quick mental reaction, and hand eye coordination.
Call of Duty: Granny get your gun!
I’d play it. :)
Better yet, CAD (Computer-Aided Design). Take a few classes, watch a few tutorials, buy a reasonably priced 3D CAD solid modeling application and starting with simple geometric shapes, learn your way around enough so that you’ll be able to assemble groups of parts and/or pieces to build something cool in your virtual 3D CAD workspace.
Send one to the White House stat.
LOL, some are beyond help...
I started learning solidworks. I noticed definite benefits in memory and learning, as long as I wasnt being “coached” by my supervisor or his boss. They moved so doggone fast I couldn’t keep up.
I play a game called The Operational Art of War every day. It’s a strategy game much like Avalon Hill’s 3rd Reich or Russian Campaign/War In Russia
Brl8r
Neuroplasticity is a powerful brain feature.
I get that. I’m an NX guy. I hadn’t worked in CAD at all between mid-2016 and Dec. of last year. I’m back now with a local company but the re-learning curve has been intense because I was using NX9 then and now I’m using NX12-something...Plus, I’m working in an area I never was an expert in. However, the group leaders and some who are experts are always there to help out but sometimes they just rush through their “demo” or only tell you what clicks to make without giving time to let it sink in as to why it matters. I’m glad to be back in the saddle and to have that thought process reemerging after the 5 1/2 years I spent doing other things. I must have needed it because it feels good to have my brain firing on all cylinders again.
Good for you. I am sure that your efforts will be rewarded with both the satisfaction of learning something new and the ability to work with the industry standard 3D Design program. However, there are other programs that allow you to do the same thing with less expense and effort depending on what you are hoping to accomplish.
I purchased a 3D Printer several years ago and like to design parts and assemblies to print. I have tried lots of 3D Design programs. Microsoft's free 3D Builder, Microsoft 3D Builder is simple and fun to tinker with, and is useful for using as a viewer for designs you can find on https://www.thingiverse.com/ etc... But it has very limited design features if you are trying to print precise parts that fit into an assembly.
There are a wide range of programs available both paid and free. Unfortunately, most are not particularly intuitive. My favorite quick and dirty program was discontinued by Autodesk... it is called 123D Design. Autodesk was giving it away on Amazon before they pulled their support completely. There are currently still legit free downloads for it if you just do a search. There are also many tutorials on YouTube and from other sources that show how to use it... The primary minor irritation is the nag to sign in when you can no longer actually create an account to save your designs on Autodesk's servers. You just save your files locally and ignore the nags.
I like 123D Design it because it is very easy to import 3-D SAT files from parts suppliers such as https://www.mcmaster.com/ and incorporate them into your design without going to a lot of trouble. As an example, if you want threads in your part... instead of going to all the trouble of figuring out how to draw 3-D threads in your design you just import the 3-D SAT file of a bolt or screw with the correct sized threads from www.mcmaster.com, place them precisely in your design where you want them, then instead of merging them into the solid you subtract them... Extremely simple and extremely intuitive.
If you want to do the same thing in Solidworks even though it is designed to do just that; it is more work. Here is a tutorial to demonstrate. Not difficult, but less intuitive and more time consuming. https://youtu.be/SZ7AJTW6MEw
Most of the more advanced 3D Design programs can be very frustrating for beginners to figure out even using step by step tutorials.
I recently began learning and experimenting with a program called GarageBand. It allows the user to compose tunes using all kinds of instruments and sounds, then save them if you like them and play them back.
I started with the program about 4 weeks ago, i spend about 2 hours a day making music (I am not very good at it though), but its very enjpyable.
I have noticed some REALLY noticeable improvements in my neurological functioning in that time and so I would highly recommend it any older people (I’m 60) give it a try. In fact, the difference was so noticeable that I actually felt a bit worried over the change, thinking it may indicate some brain tumor or something like that (then I just said to hell with that little bit of worry, I’m just going to enjoy this new feeling).
So what exactly are the improvements? I feel much happier than I did before. I was not really depressed, maybe just a bit sad, but now I want to chat with strangers more, I want to exercise more, and I get a happy urge to dance which rarely happened before. I feel sexy again too (I know, I know, TMI. . .)Also I am feeling much less inhibited than ever, and want to open up and converse more. Yesterday while walking through the park there was a festival that had a band playing, and shy me had a strong urge (I didn’t do it tho) to just head over there and dance. It was, quite frankly, bizarre, something I haven’t done since i was 20.
So I just wanted to share that experience in case some of you want to try it. I hope it will help others too. GarageBand clears the cobwebs out.
Interesting that it’s had the noticeable effects on you :) Were you very musical before, such as playing an instrument or singing?
BKMK
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