Wii gives the gift of restored movement and fitness to people after a stroke

Scimex: Wii is the gift that keeps on giving to people after they have had a stroke, according to two studies from Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA). New research, led by Dr Penelope McNulty, shows that Wii-based Movement Therapy (WMT) not only restores upper limb mobility, but also improves lower limb movement and cardiovascular health in participants. Both studies compared WMT with modified Constraint-induced Movement Therapy (mCMIT) and found that WMT boasts additional benefits. While CMIT is currently considered best-practice in stroke rehabilitation, results from these studies indicate that WMT is equally as effective, with better lifestyle outcomes at six months.

Pokemon makes you go go go... but then its gone

Scimex: Pokémon Go improves physical activity among adults who use the game, but the effect is moderate and not sustained over time, finds a study published in The BMJ Christmas issue this week.Results show that the daily average steps during the first week of installation increased by 955 additional steps - equivalent to half of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation for physical activity per week.
The following weeks saw a gradual reduction in the number of steps, and this effect was lost after six weeks of game playing.

Researchers Use Video Gamelike Test to Study Learning and Recovery in Stroke Patients

Johns Hopkins: A robotic arm and a virtual game were essential tools in a new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine. The study results suggest that while training doesn’t change neurological repair in chronic stroke patients, it can indeed help such patients learn new motor skills and achieve more independence in their daily lives.

Intrusiveness of Old Emotional Memories Can Be Reduced by Computer Game Play Procedure

Psychological Science: Unwanted, intrusive visual memories are a core feature of stress- and trauma-related clinical disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but they can also crop up in everyday life. New research shows that even once intrusive memories have been laid down, playing a visually-demanding computer game after reactivating the memories may reduce their occurrence over time. The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

TV and gaming means trouble for teen boys' bones

Scimex: An international study has found that teenage boys who spend two to four, or more than six, hours in front of a screen during the weekend have poorer bone health. Teenage girls, however, seem to buck this trend, with the researchers reporting that girls who spent four to six hours watching a screen over the weekend actually had higher bone mineral density. Body fat distribution may help protect girls’ bones at this age, suggest researchers. Weekend screen time is linked to poorer teen bone health—but only in boys, reveals research published in the online journal BMJ Open. The apparent lack of impact of leisure screen time on teen girls’ bone health may be explained by their different body fat distribution, suggest the researchers.

Study sheds new light on the impact of video gaming on the brain

Douglas: A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B by the teams of Dr. Gregory West shows that while video game players (VGPs) exhibit more efficient visual attention abilities, they are also much more likely to use navigation strategies that rely on the brain’s reward system (the caudate nucleus) and not the brain’s spatial memory system (the hippocampus). Past research has shown that people who use caudate nucleus-dependent navigation strategies have decreased grey matter and lower functional brain activity in the hippocampus.

Gamers may lack grey matter

Scimex: Canadian scientists say around 80 per cent of video gamers learn by habit when navigating a game, compared to only around 42 per cent of non-gamers. Previous studies have linked habit learning to decreased grey matter in the hippocampus - a brain area involved in memory formation, organisation, and storage, suggesting gamers may be at risk of developing neurological disorders, they say.

How video games could help children with autism and intellectual disabilities

RCSI: A research presented at the 4th international DOCTRID Conference is a project with the aim of helping children with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to practice and improve their social skills through the use of personalised multi-user games. The project is researching the design of collaborative learning games which will facilitate learning of social interaction skills. Due to difficulties in social interaction, children with ASD are often restricted to playing alone or engaging in a narrow repertoire of behaviours and interests. Existing commercial technology solutions for children with ASD focus on single user interaction but the new research being presented at the conference outlines the rationale for and development of a multi-user game to provide children on the autism spectrum a means to build, practice and consolidate their social interaction skills.

Video games may boost the brain

Scimex: Comparing the brain connectivity of 27 video gaming champions with 30 amateurs, Chinese and Australian scientists found that the champions had enhanced connectivity in regions of their brains associated with attention and hand-eye coordination. However, whether the boost was caused by video gaming has yet to be determined, they say. Playing action video games (AVGs) may enhance functionality and alter structures in brain regions associated with attention and sensorimotor control (hand-eye coordination), a study in Scientific Reports this week suggests.

Video Game Violence Doesn’t Boost Aggression Among Adults with Autism

APS: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulties regulating their emotions and behavior, in addition to the difficulties with social interaction and restricted or repetitive behaviors that are characteristic of ASD. As a result, some have speculated that individuals with ASD may be more susceptible to emotionally arousing content found in violent video games, which could lead to increased aggressive behavior. Over the past several decades, psychological and behavioral scientists have conducted numerous studies exploring the relationship between violent video games and aggression; however, there is little research that sheds light on how this relationship specifically plays out for individuals with ASD. Researcher Christopher Engelhardt and colleagues decided to conduct their own study to investigate the question. Their findings are forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

To much time gaming linked to poor behaviour

Oxford: Children who play video games for more than three hours a day are more likely to be hyperactive, get involved in fights and not be interested in school, says a new study. It examined the effects of different types of games and time spent playing on children’s social and academic behaviour. The researchers from the University of Oxford found that the time spent playing games could be linked with problem behaviour and this was the significant factor rather than the types of games played. They could find no link between playing violent games and real-life aggression or a child’s academic performance. They also found that low levels of play – under an hour a day – might actually benefit behaviour.

Video game helps people with prostheses (video)

Groningen: University movement scientists and UMCG rehab specialists are developing an opening and closing exercise using a computer game. Opening a hand prosthesis can be regulated precisely. However, it does require good user control. And that takes practice. A computer game can be useful for that.

  

Two hour screen limit for kids virtually impossible to enforce

University of Western Australia: A world-first longitudinal study by The University of Western Australia researchers examining the links between mental health and screen use by children and teenagers has found that guidelines to limit screen-based media-use to less than two hours a day are out of date and ‘virtually impossible' to enforce.